Unexpected, Unforgettable You
by BumbleBeee96
Summary: Becker can still remember the last time he saw Jayme Cutter; the day she disappeared in the Jurassic period. But that was three years ago, and a lot has changed since. When a new anomaly opens, the team assume they're prepared. Rule number one: Never assume. Jayme's back on a personal mission and she's brought along a familiar face. *Second Instalment in the Jayme Cutter series*
1. Chapter One: Three Years Later

"_Once you had put the pieces back together, even though you may look intact, you were never quite the same as you'd been before the fall."_

_-Jodi Picoult._

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Jess wandered into the ARC's main control room, her arms swinging by her side. Her bright pink heels clicked against the floor, something that Lester always reminded her of. _Do they need to be that high? Can you get quieter shoes? No one else makes that much noise when they walk! _She smiled brightly remembering the many comments he made at her when he was expressing his annoyance at her shoes. She knew he was a soft man underneath; that's what made it so much more fun when he was irritated.

"Hi Kate," Jess greeted; grinning at the soldier. Kate smiled back, her shiny black hair falling over her shoulders. She was dressed in her work attire; black top, black combat trousers, black boots; Becker found black a more professional colour for the security team; something that Jess constantly nagged him about.

"Morning," She replied, shifting the papers on the desk into a file. "I better get this to the Captain; he hates it when I'm late,"

"I'll see you later," Just as she managed to get the words out of her mouth, the ADD came to life. The sirens sounded across the building, alerting everyone to the new anomaly. "Looks like Becker will have to wait," She added.

"Jess, where's the anomaly?" Connor asked as he jogged into the room.

"Hang on," Jess murmured. She headed over to the computers and pulled up the information from the new anomaly. "It's at a restaurant, the one that closed down a couple weeks ago," She informed.

"Leslie's Lounge? Damn I loved that place," Sam's slightly husky voice came into focus. She pulled her brunette hair into a ponytail and grabbed the ear piece from the table.

"It's from the Palaeogene, haven't had one of those in a couple years," Jess added.

"Ok, everyone gear up, Emily, Kate with me. Becker you take the other car with Sam and Connor. I'll call back-up, they'll be behind; everyone got it?" Matt questioned, raising his eyebrow, "Then let's go,"

"I call shotgun!" Connor added, raising his hand and looking at Sam, "You got to be in the front last time,"

"Seriously? Come on, Temple, I'm not giving up my seat," Sam replied, waving her hand as she spoke.

"Becker, tell her," Connor moaned. Even at thirty years old he could act like such a kid, it was a good thing it made him loveable.

"You two can work that out for yourself, but if I was you, I wouldn't go up against Sam, Connor," Becker commented. He picked up his weapon and headed towards the exit, following Matt. The rest of the team followed as they made their way down to the car park.

The drive took about fifteen minutes, but soon enough they had arrived, skidding the cars to a stop. The team powered up the EMD's as they marched into the building. Becker kicked down the locked door, dust flying up as the wood hit the ground.

"I still don't know why I couldn't sit in the front; do you even know what shotgun means?" Connor questioned, looking pointedly at Sam.

"Yeah, I just choose to ignore it,"

"_The anomaly should be straight ahead, it's in the main dining room," _Jess stated through the ear pieces, interrupting Connor and Sam's conversation.

"It's over here," Kate called. She stood in front of the glowing energy, the light illuminating her features. She had worked here for two months now; she still wasn't used to the anomalies, or the things that came out of them. Her mentor in the army had given her recommendation for this job after she had told him she was thinking of taking a different career route, she was a Lieutenant, Lieutenant Mackenzie. She could never repay him for giving her a job that allowed her to work close to home without her giving up an action based life.

"Connor, do you have the ALD?" Becker asked the man, as he approached the anomaly.

"Yeah," Connor replied, pulling the Anomaly Locking Device from the holder on his back. It was shaped very much like a gun, apart from the small keypad on the side and the strange metal end, the same type of end that the original Anomaly Locking Mechanism previously had. Connor had managed to update it, to make it easier to move around.

He began to type in the code, before being distracted by the team lifting their weapons up into the air. The sound of wood hitting the floor echoed through the room, everyone suddenly became alert, wandering through the room slowly, checking for an incursion.

"Looks like we're not alone," Matt stated, whilst shining his torch around the abandoned building.

The crash of pans falling sounded from the kitchen before the area fell back into silence. The silence lasted. Matt pointed his finger at the double doors that led into the kitchen, indicating the team to follow him through them. Becker held his hand against one of the doors, sharing a glance with Matt before pushing it open and aiming the EMD's into the room. The torch lights soon flooded the area, lighting up the darkened room. All of the windows in the building had been bordered up, leaving the area in complete darkness. They couldn't see a creature, that didn't mean there wasn't one, something had moved in here. Kate and Connor remained by the anomaly, ensuring that nothing else came through, although it remained unlocked while they searched for an incursion, it would make things easier for getting the creature back through. The door ahead of them swung shut, the wood hitting against the doorframe with a sudden bang. Matt rushed forward, following through the door into the storage room. Something shot up out of the corner of Matt's eye, startling the team as they entered the room. Weapons flew up in the air, the torch beams illuminating the perpetrator. The team leader lowered his weapon as he looked upon the alarmed face of a boy, around the age of thirteen. Becker raised his eyebrows at him, and rested his EMD against his shoulder.

"P-please don't hurt me," The boy stuttered, raising his hands in the air as the team averted the weapons away from his face. "I didn't think anyone would come in here, I swear I didn't mean any harm,"

"Where did you come from?" Matt questioned, looking the boy up and down, he seemed like just an average teenager.

"Please don't arrest me, if my mom found out she'd kill me,"

"I've got this, check the rest of the area," Matt murmured to Becker. The soldier nodded at his team leader and manoeuvred the rest of the members out from the storage room to check for any creature incursions. "Where does your mother think you are?" Matt asked, hooking the strap of his weapon over his shoulder.

"I snuck out; she might know, not sure, sir,"

"Are you trying to run away?"

The boy nodded his head in response, "Are you going to take me back?"

"That depends, why exactly did you run away?"

"You'll think it's stupid,"

"If you don't think it's stupid, then I won't,"

"Well... my mom's remarrying, and the new guy's moving in today,"

"You miss your father?"

"Yeah, he moved up to Scotland, I don't see him anymore,"

"Look, I know what it's like to miss your father, but running away isn't the answer. We are going to have to take you back home,"

"I understand, sir,"

"Come on," Matt told the boy, leading him out of the kitchen and through the building, being careful to avoid the anomaly, preventing further questions. He motioned Sam to follow as he passed the team members heading back through into the dining room. She joined him outside, the daylight stunning them for a second as their eyes adjusted to the bright light once more.

"I need you to take him back home, he'll tell you the address. We'll meet you back at the ARC," Matt stated, nodding his head quickly at Sam before running back into the restaurant and straight towards the anomaly.

"Clear," Becker announced as he moved back over to the anomaly, "Doesn't seem to be any incursions,"

"Good, Connor?"

"Right," Connor responded, picking the ALD back up from the ground and setting it to the setting that will lock the anomaly. Before he had a chance to lock it, a head of blonde hair shot past him out from the anomaly. Becker motioned the back-up team to follow him as they ran after the woman. Matt, Kate, Emily and the remaining two men from back-up held the EMD's up, aiming at the anomaly.

"Connor, do you want to lock it now?" Emily asked impatiently, glancing quickly at the man.

"Right, sorry," Connor responded, shaking his head.

Another shadow flooded the anomaly, another figure. Two more people ran through the light, stumbling to a stop as the weapons pointed up at them. Connor stared at the two individuals in front of him. He knew them, he knew who they were.

Kate moved over and took the device out of Connor's hands, locking the anomaly behind them while he was distracted. She stepped back again, watching the couple who had emerged from the ball of light. One was a man, with out-grown dark ginger hair; growing stubble covering his chin. His clothes looked damaged and dirty; clearly he had worn them for a while now. The other person was a woman; the first thing Kate noticed about her was the piercing blue eyes that stared at the team whose weapons were pointed at the two of them. She had long dark brown hair, undoubtedly out-grown from however long she had travelled through the anomalies, her clothes were also tattered, the front of her vest top baring three claw marks that tore through the fabric, luckily it looked like it had only hit the fabric; she couldn't see any wounds on the woman.

"Danny? Jayme?" Connor murmured, eyes widening at the sight before him. He couldn't believe his eyes; he'd never imagined seeing Danny Quinn or Jayme Cutter again, not after three years. They looked extremely tousled from their time through the anomalies. Had they spent the entire three years travelling through them? How did they end up together? Why were they here now?

Kate watched curiously as she realised that Connor knew who they were. What had he called them, Danny and Jayme? The names sounded familiar, someone on the team must have mentioned them before.

"Where is she?" Quinn demanded, moving forward. He looked around the building they were in, searching for other people. The back-up team raised their EMD's once more at the sudden movement.

"It's alright, they're friends," Matt stated, "Where's who?"

Jayme spun around in frustration; a sigh escaping her lips. "We've lost her, that's just great!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air.

"We'll find her," Danny told her, his voice calm.

"You don't know that, we needed to get to her before she got here!"

"What are you talking about?" Connor questioned; his eyes flickering between the two old team members.

Before either of them had a chance to respond, footsteps sounded ahead of them. Everyone looked around as the back-up team wandered through the room. The soldiers turned their attention to Connor as soon as they had reached the group.

"Whoever she was, she's disappeared. The Captain's on his way back now to report to Lester, he said you could handle the anomaly," One of the men stated, glancing at the now locked anomaly.

"That's just great," Jayme announced sarcastically, "What are we going to do now?" She turned to face Danny.

"Who are they?" One of the soldiers asked confusedly, pointing at the frustrated couple that had just emerged from the anomaly. Connor, Matt and Emily shared a three way glance before turning to face Danny and Jayme. This was going to be an interesting conversation.


	2. Chapter Two: Just a Kiss

"Is anyone going to say anything, or do I have to demand an explanation?" Lester questioned; the usual sarcastic tone edging his voice.

Danny Quinn and Jayme Cutter sat in the chairs in front of him, looking extremely dishevelled from their journey. Matt, Connor and Emily stood at the back of the room in silence, waiting for the explanation that Lester asked for. They still couldn't believe that they were here, they were back. Matt found it even harder to believe that they were travelling together; he didn't think that the old team leader would have, considering everything Danny had told him before, after all, he was the one who had said not to trust her. Clearly she must have found a way to prove to him that she wasn't the bad guy.

"Where do we start?" Danny asked; looking for an answer from Jayme rather than Lester.

"How about the beginning," Lester suggested.

"You first," Danny muttered, leaning back against the chair nonchalantly.

"Alright, you know that three years ago I left here, I spent my time travelling through, well, time. I found Danny in the Pliocene five months ago; we travelled together, now we're here," Jayme finished, gliding over the details.

"My story's pretty similar," Danny murmured.

"And Ethan? Or Patrick shall I say? What happened to him?"

Danny's eyes flickered to the floor for a moment before looking back at Lester. "I was forced to take him out, he found his way to 1897, he tried to kill someone, I did what I had to do," He said quietly, remembering the look in his brother's eyes as the bullet shot through his chest, ending his life. That moment would be forever embedded in his mind; he had killed his own brother. It didn't matter how many people he may have saved by doing so, the fact remained the same; his brother was now dead because of him. He had spent his entire life protecting him, then searching for him, yet when they were finally reunited; it wasn't long until he was forced to murder him, take away his life. He would never forget that, he would never lose the guilt that haunted him, but he knew he had to move on; there was no point in letting it run his life.

"And where does this 'girl' come in to it; the one who came through the anomaly and disappeared, the one who you two were apparently rather frustrated about?"

The two of them shared a look, "Her name's Amanda," Jayme replied.

"And you're chasing her because?"

"She has certain interests, ones that are connected to the anomalies,"

"Well that's awfully vague,"

"We don't know much," Danny stated, before Jayme had a chance to respond. He glanced around the room as silence took over them. He hadn't really noticed who was in the room before; there was Matt, who had shot him last time, Connor, his old team member, and Emily, the woman Patrick had been after. But there was someone missing. "Where's Abby?" He questioned, glancing over at Connor. He widened his eyes, "She's not dead, is she?"

Connor half smiled, "No she's not dead; do you really think I'd still be here if she was gone?"

"Then where is she?"

This time Connor grinned, his whole face lighting up. Danny raised an eyebrow curiously at the man. "She's on maternity leave," Connor almost sang.

"She's pregnant?" Danny spluttered out, he couldn't believe it. Never did he imagine Connor and Abby as being parents, Connor still acted like a kid himself at times, and Abby never really did give off the whole motherly impression.

"Well not anymore, she had the baby a month ago. It's a little girl, and she's so cute, she's got the tiniest little hands and feet, and she's got my hair colour, she looks more like Abby face-wise though, and when she smiles, it's just so cute, and she did this thing the other day-"

Lester cleared his throat at the gleeful man, shutting him up instantly. "If you don't mind Connor, we should probably be discussing a few more serious matters than how cute your new child is,"

"See, he thinks she's cute too," Connor stated, sounding all giddy, before dropping his smile as Lester raised an eyebrow at him, "Sorry," He added.

Jayme laughed at the two men, Connor just found it way too hard to be professional sometimes, and as for Lester; he didn't want to come off as soft. It was interesting mix between the two. Then she realised something, the mention of Abby not being there triggered her own questions.

"Where's my dad?" She asked, glancing around the office for answers from someone, anyone.

"He left the ARC, when you went through the anomaly, he quit. He said he didn't want to be reminded of it; he just wanted to move on. He's working as a professor at the university he used to work at," Connor replied, he really did miss working with Cutter, especially as he had only just adjusted to him being back by the time he left. He still saw him though, Nick was their daughter's godfather, and then they'd agreed on Jess as godmother, since she'd helped them out a lot after they returned from the cretaceous. Jess was over the moon when they'd asked her; she wouldn't shut up about it for a week. Nick visited from time to time, and they would all often go out for dinner on a Sunday; so it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the same.

"All this catching up is lovely, but do you think we could go back to this 'Amanda' girl,"

"What about her?" Jayme questioned, turning back to face Lester.

"_What about her?_ You've told us nothing!"

"We don't know anything else, just that she's bad news," Danny responded.

"And we need to find her," Jayme added.

"Preferably before she does any damage," Danny finished.

"Ok, ok, take a day or two, get back on your feet, then we'll discuss this situation later," Lester stated, standing back onto his feet. He really didn't want to deal with this today; he simply didn't feel like it.

"It's good to see you, Lester," Danny responded.

"Yes, yes, it's all very lovely," He replied, in a very Lester-like tone.

"If you two need a place to stay, I'm sure we could fit you in somewhere, well maybe, actually I'm not sure, we could try though," Connor announced.

"That'd be great Connor,"

"Are you sure you have room?" Jayme questioned.

"Well, we did have a guest room, but that's a nursery now, we have a couch though,"

"I think I'll find somewhere else, Danny can take the couch; I don't think Abby would be happy to have me around anyway,"

"Why? She doesn't hate you, I mean yeah she didn't trust you, but you helped us save the world, trust me I think she's over it, it has been three years,"

"I don't want to be burden, and you only really have space for one, honestly I'll find somewhere else,"

"If you're sure,"

"Of course I am,"

"Do you think you could all get back to work now? And Quinn, Cutter, we'll be seeing you two around,"

"We wouldn't leave you Lester," Danny stated, smirking at his old boss, before wandering out of the office. He was really glad to be back here.

Jayme followed Danny out from the room, and leaned against the metal banister above the steps. The main control room hadn't changed that much. She watched as Danny walked over to the ADD with Emily and Matt, being introduced to the team members, she recognised Jess by the screens but not the other two girls. From the looks of them, she could guess they were a part of the security team, kitted out in black attire. Then there was Becker who drifted onto her mind, she hadn't seen him in three years, where was he? She knew he was around, she'd heard Matt speaking to him through the ear pieces. She hated the way things had been left, in the midst of betrayal, distrust, uncertainty and secrets, not the best way to leave things. But the rest of the team seemed to have understood, they didn't sound like they were holding a grudge against her, in fact they seemed quite welcoming. A soldier wandered across the room, dressed in a black t-shirt, combat trousers and boots; Captain Becker. He looked pretty much the same; she bit back the small smile on her lips. It felt right to see him, he was the only person she had ever felt completely safe with, those three and a half months trapped in the future depending on each other, protecting each other, trusting each other with their lives. Then everything broke down, lies, secrets and distrust, three things she found hard to rid herself of, they followed her around like a plague on her life. It came naturally, keeping secrets, she felt like she had to, she didn't trust anyone with her story, with her feelings; she had seen too many people hurt because of those things. He greeted Danny, happy to be reunited with his old friend. She took a deep breath, watching his interactions. He shifted towards one of the soldiers, the brunette woman, planting a light kiss on her lips. Jayme froze, holding her breath deep inside of her; the beat of her heart echoing through the silence. This wasn't meant to feel like this. Why did she feel so destroyed? It had been three years, they were never together, why did she care if he was kissing another woman? She looked down, closing her eyes, why couldn't everything just fall into place for her, just once?

"You know it took him a while to get over you, Jayme," Connor's voice came into focus. He moved beside of her, resting his arms onto the banister, watching the team ahead.

That couldn't be true; there was nothing to get over, surely. He was probably just trying to make her feel better, but she didn't want lies to help her, she just wanted the truth. She glanced up at him, dismissing his comment, "I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Because it's not obvious that you're upset over him,"

"I'm not, there's nothing to be upset over; we weren't together,"

"He really cared about you Jayme, he would never admit, but he did, I'm pretty sure it got worse the longer you were gone,"

"I think you're reading too much into it,"

"Four months after you left, when I got sick of Becker isolating himself from everyone, you know he wouldn't speak to anyone, he just did his job, he barely showed any recognition towards us, he just moped around, and anyway, back to the story, I got sick of it. I didn't know at the time why he was acting like that, so I went round his apartment, got him to drink some beer, and he started to open up, didn't make much sense at first, he just kept muttering things like why did I let her go, why didn't I stop her, but then he explained, how he cared about you, how he hated it, how he couldn't get you off his mind. It was weird, never seen him like that. But he didn't change after that, he spent another year like that, he just grew more obsessed with you, he really missed you. Not that he would ever admit it though. But he started to get back to his usual self, then five months ago he began dating Sam, he's happy now. I get that it hurts you, but he is happy,"

"Connor, it _honestly_ doesn't hurt me,"

"You know you used to be a really good liar, not so much anymore, unless it's just things like this that you can't lie about,"

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"You know, the funny thing is, heartbreak can't exist unless there was love first, if your heart is broken... I'm not saying it is," He added defensively as she shot a look at him, "Then at least you know you loved him," Connor told her, before leaving her alone in peace and jogging over to join the group. Those last few words lingered on her mind; she didn't know what to say. Did she ever love him? Could she have loved him? She had certainly felt a stab of pain when she saw him kiss that woman. But just because she had been slightly upset about it didn't mean she was heartbroken. She had only known him for about four months, love doesn't grow in four months of knowing a person, and she didn't understand how it could grow without them being around.

Becker turned his head from the group, catching a glimpse of Jayme Cutter. The last time he had seen her was three years ago, three long years. Even with spending so long through the anomalies, she somehow still managed to amaze him; somehow she still managed to look more beautiful than she had before. It was natural beauty, she didn't need make-up or anything else, she didn't have to try; she just had to be there. Why did she have to be here though? And why now? Now that he was happy, now that everything was settling into place. He had lived three years without hearing anything from her, he was able to move on, forget about her, and now she was back. He didn't need this, he didn't need life to get complicated, he liked it the way it was, it was simple; it had a routine to it. That would all change now, she had come back into his life and changed it, changed it something he didn't understand, to something unfamiliar that he had no experience in. Soon, it would change into a complicated, unpredictable, unexpected twist of events. After all, she always managed to find ways to surprise him, no matter what.


	3. Chapter Three: The Secret

Jayme took a deep breath before pulling away from the banister and slowly making her way down towards the group. This was why she shouldn't have allowed feelings to get the better of her. She had promised her dad that she wouldn't become romantically involved with anyone on the team, she kept that promise, yet it didn't protect her from this, the feelings that she now felt which confused her more than anything else. She smiled weakly as she approached the team, avoiding Becker's eyes.

"Jayme, this Kate," Connor announced, gesturing towards the pretty soldier with black hair and green eyes, "And this is Sam," He continued, introducing the other soldier, the one Becker was dating. She wore brunette hair in a ponytail and had dark brown eyes. Kate smiled at her, shaking her hand.

"Good to finally meet you," Sam stated, also shaking her hand, Jayme smiled at her, something that took a lot of energy to do. "Heard all about you two, the ex-team leader and Cutter's daughter, right?"

"Yeah, that's us," Danny responded, sending her a lop-sided smile.

"Nice to see you again, Jayme," Jess stated, smiling at her, "Connor told me you needed a place to stay, if you want you can stay with me, there's plenty of room,"

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not,"

"Not after what happened between us with the gun and everything?"

"I don't like holding grudges, besides there were circumstances then, it'd be great to have a roommate again,"

"Thanks Jess," She responded, smiling at the field co-ordinator, at least she knew there was one person here who wouldn't hold it against her, Connor didn't seem like he was interested in holding a grudge either, she wasn't so sure about the rest, only time would tell.

"We should probably get back to work before Lester complains; I've got a couple reports to write anyway. It's good to see you two again," Matt stated, before wandering out of the room alongside Emily, his arm around her waist.

"So I'm guessing that they're together, right?" Danny questioned, turning his head back towards the group.

"Yeah, they're engaged," Connor stated, glancing back at the couple as they disappeared out of sight, he couldn't wait for the wedding, he really loved weddings.

"So is she pregnant too?"

"Emily? No, but I reckon they're planning to have kids eventually,"

"God, I can't believe how much has changed here,"

"It has been three years, mate,"

"We should probably go too, I need to brief the security team," Becker stated, glancing over at Jayme. She didn't look at him, not once. "I'll see you guys later," He then walked away from the group, Sam and Kate following him as they headed towards the security offices.

"As much as I would love to stay and chat, I've also got work to do," Connor added, waving goodbye to Danny, Jayme and Jess before exiting the room.

"And then there were three," Jayme murmured to herself, looking up at the two.

"There should be some clothes in one of the lockers if you two want to get cleaned up, it's all by the gym, just along that corridor, down the steps and on the left," Jess informed, pointing her finger towards one of the corridors that led off from the main control room.

"Thanks," Jayme commented, sending her a warm smile before heading off in the direction that the field co-ordinator had pointed out. Danny wandered beside her, glancing at her a couple times before beginning to speak as they walked through the corridor.

"Any reason to why there was an awkward tension between you and Becker? Even I felt it,"

"It's complicated," She responded, not daring to look the man in the eye, he always had a way of getting a story out of her.

"Go on..."

"Danny, there's nothing to tell,"

"Are you ever going to let anyone in?" Danny stated, a little too harshly, "Sorry," He added, glancing down at her, he really didn't want to upset her, but sometimes she irritated him, she held way too many secrets that she simply wouldn't spill.

She didn't say anything; she just looked at the ground as they wandered down the steps.

"C'mon Jayme, it can't be that bad,"

"It isn't,"

"Did you two date or something?"

"Or something," She murmured, glancing up at him, he raised an eyebrow at her, the usual response he gave when he wanted an explanation, "I honestly don't know Danny, I cared about him but it wasn't anything more than that,"

"Did he care about you?"

"I don't know,"

"Well clearly you left some sort of impression on him,"

"Can we talk about something else, please?" Jayme exclaimed, desperation falling into her voice.

"Like what?"

"Like, are we going to tell them the truth about Amanda?" She asked, stopping in her tracks and turning to face him.

"Look, I don't enjoy lying to them, but if we tell them that-"

"I know," She interrupted, sighing, "It's just after everything I kept from them last time; I don't want to go through that again,"

"As long as we get her before the ARC finds out who she is..."

"Then there should be no interference, I get it, we need to find her fast,"

"Exactly,"

She ran her hands through her hair; she hated how things were becoming more complex. If they could only have caught Amanda before she came here then there would have been no problems, no interference. Now she was forced to keep more secrets, as if she didn't have enough as it is. On top of that, she had no idea where to start looking for Amanda, or what her next step was; they just had to try and figure it out as they went along. They headed into the gym, moving through the room until they had found the shower area and lockers. They both split off into the different showers, their first real shower in a long time. As she turned the water on, Jayme could feel the tension slowly melting away. The hot water falling down her body was bliss, as it warmed her up and cleaned the dirt from her skin. She wasn't sure how long she had stayed in the shower but by the time she had turned the water off, Danny was nowhere in sight. She grabbed the white towel hanging over the railing on the wall and wrapped it around her, stepping out onto the cold floor after covering herself.

"Danny?" She called into the abandoned shower room. There was no response. He must have met back up with the team, she figured.

After changing into a blue jacket and jeans that hid in the spare clothes locker, Jayme headed back through the gym, stopping suddenly as she found a person already inside, working on the punching bag. He looked over at her, dropping his fists as he realised who was in the room with him. Becker moved forward, ready to say something to her, he had to find a way to speak to her; he didn't want things to be like this. Before he had a chance to talk, Jayme rushed past him, avoiding eye contact, she really didn't want to speak to him right now, she had no idea what to say.

Soon enough, she had made her way back into the main control room, where Danny was stood talking to one of the soldiers, a one she recognised from the back-up team earlier. As Jayme approached the two men, she found herself making a mental note of the way the young soldier looked, for future reference, something she did with every person she met. His hair itself was like spun gold, each thread falling perfectly, weaving together into curls that framed his tanned face. His nose was straight and aquiline, his lips, a slight shade of pink, were moving as he chatted away to the old team leader. Danny smiled at her as she moved next to them, gesturing a hand towards the soldier.

"This is Scott," He stated, "And this is Jayme," He added, introducing the two to each other.

"Nice to meet you," He tilted his head towards Jayme, shaking her hand, a cocky smile on his lips.

"You two," She responded, rolling her eyes subtly at the man and suppressing a smile, he seemed a little overconfident for her liking.

Becker wandered into the main control room; he had now changed back from his workout clothes into security attire. Jayme still lingered on his mind, what was he going to do about her? He wanted to talk to her, but on the other hand, he didn't, he was afraid of what she might say to him. Why was he over thinking this? He had a girlfriend now, he didn't need to complicate things by talking to Jayme, but he so desperately wanted to. He wanted to tell her everything he felt, both the good and the bad, how he was angry at her, and how he was so happy to see her alive and safe. Sometimes things are better left unsaid though, was this one of those things? It couldn't be, this seemed like something he had to talk to her about, and he really needed to talk to her about it. He just had to wait for the opportune moment. Becker caught sight of her as he looked up into the room; she stood talking to Danny and one of his soldiers. Scott Lambert. Why was she talking to him? He knew what he was like; the young soldier would definitely try to flirt with any woman who walked by, Jess usually being the main victim. He didn't want him flirting with Jayme though. He didn't want anyone flirting with Jayme, he wasn't sure he could deal with that yet.

"Lambert! I need you to check that the new shipment of equipment is right," He called after the soldier, finding a way to get him away from her. The blonde turned his head, nodding at his Captain.

"I'll be right there, sir," He replied, "I'll definitely be seeing you around," He stated, winking at Jayme before heading over to complete his orders.

"Looks like someone is jealous," Danny murmured into her ear, eyeing Becker as he wandered towards Jess, checking something out on the ADD monitors.

"He has a girlfriend. Anyway, what _is_ there to be jealous of?"

"You, and his special little soldier,"

"The man I talked to for about two seconds? You're insane,"

"C'mon Jayme, you're not stupid. That soldier was interested in you, and Becker knew it,"

"Why on earth would Becker care about that?"

"Ok, maybe you _are _stupid; Becker clearly has a thing for you,"

"He does not have a thing for me, he never did, he may have cared about me a little, but he cared about all of his team members,"

"Are you _actually _blind?"

"Last time I checked? No,"

"You know what, I give up, you're impossible. But from where I'm standing, it looks like he at least cared about you more than the average team member,"

"Then move, because there was nothing going on between us," She stated, before wandering away from him, head muddled with so many thoughts and questions. She headed down towards Jess, just after Becker had left the room. The field co-ordinator smiled at her as she approached.

"Hey Jess, do you have a spare key to your apartment on you, I could really do with a lie down, my head is killing me,"

"Yeah sure, here take my car, I'll get Connor to drop me off on his way home," Jess responded, handing her a spare key and her set of car keys.

"Thanks, what's the address?"

After being given Jess's address, Jayme said her goodbyes to Danny, and informed Lester of where she was staying in case he needed to contact her. The drive didn't take too long, Jess lived quite close to the ARC, so luckily she was able to wander into the apartment, find the guest room Jess had mentioned and collapse onto the bed. It felt like heaven, the mattress was incredibly comfy and the pillows were soft and feathery. It had been too long since she had rested on a bed like this. She kicked her shoes off onto the floor before crawling under the duvet, soon falling into the deep sleep she so desperately needed.


	4. Chapter Four: Haunted

_The walls of the room were painted in just a simple white shade, but it was a white that would stain your mind, and drive you crazy. It always felt like they were closing in on her, trapping her inside with no way out. It terrified her; every moment spent in this place terrified her. She wanted to leave, yet she couldn't, why couldn't she leave? The door was unlocked but every time she left, she became even more scared. The people in this place scared her, their cries, their yells, their incessant rambling which made no sense to her, or anyone. Why wouldn't anyone believe her? Why did they insist there was something wrong? Why couldn't they let her go home? She didn't like this place, in fact she hated it. There may be one way to get out of here, one way for her to leave. If they didn't believe her then she would stop talking, she would stop mentioning it, she would stop trying to convince them. It was the only way, the only thing she could think of to escape..._

The air felt like it was being sucked out from her body, the atmosphere tightening with every struggled breath. Jayme's eyes shot open, showing her a different room, one of warmth, of comfort. It took her a couple seconds to remember where she was, Jess's guestroom in the apartment. Her arms trembled slightly as she sat up, resting her head against the wall behind her. Her breathing was short and fast paced, and a thin layer of icy sweat clung to her body. She slowed her breathing down as her hands covered her face, pressing against the skin. Why did this happen, why did her brain constantly remind her of the past? Why couldn't it leave her alone, why couldn't she escape? It didn't happen every night, but it happened often enough. And when those memories came flooding back to her, she found it hard to rid herself of them. No matter how hard she tried, they would always be there, haunting her, reminding her of a past she so desperately wanted to get away from.

After a few moments of stillness, she slid out from the bed and moved over to the window ahead of her. It was dark outside now, she had no idea what time it was, or how long she had slept, but it had took up the whole day. She wasn't surprised; it had been a while since she'd had a good night's rest, without having to worry about what was moving around her in the shadows. She moved out of the room quietly, wincing as the door clicked softly behind her. Jess would be asleep now, somewhere, she wasn't quite sure where her bedroom was, there were another three doors leading off from the living room/kitchen. It was a rather large apartment Jayme noticed now, definitely a decent size. Luckily, there was a small bathroom attached to the guestroom so she wouldn't have to take her chances in trying to find the bathroom and accidently waking the field co-ordinator up. She wandered across the room, heading into the kitchen area, shivering as her bare feet hit the cold tiled floor. She eventually found a glass in one of the many cupboards and poured herself a cup of water from the sink. The icy cold liquid shot down her throat, making her chillier than she was before. As she made her way back into the bedroom, she noticed a collection of bags under the table by the front door. A note sat on the table surface; she picked the piece of paper up and read it silently.

'_Jayme, I picked up a few things for you while out on my lunch break. Emily helped, she said my style might not be your taste; hope you like them. We guessed your size, they should fit, if they don't I'll swap them for another size, Jess.'_

That answered the question of what she was going to wear tomorrow, now she just had to hope the clothes weren't too out of her own style. She picked up the bags and wandered back into the bedroom, placing them on the bed and spilling the contents. There were various pairs of jeans, combat trousers, vest tops, a leather jacket, underwear, and a couple dresses, skirts and formal tops; she guessed Jess had picked out the last few things. That girl sure seemed to love to shop. Then there were the shoes, a mixture of boots, trainers and a couple heels. She gathered them up, hanging the clothes in the wardrobe against the wall, some being folded into the drawers beside it, and the shoes at the bottom of the wardrobe. If she could force herself to sleep another few hours, she should be back into a regular sleeping pattern. Jayme wandered back into the bed, this time pulling off the trousers and blue jacket, and lay under the covers, waiting patiently for sleep to overtake her once more.

She awoke to the vague sound of a shower turning on somewhere in the apartment. Jayme sat up, rubbing her eyes as she lifted the duvet off of her. Jess must be up now, she realised, before walking into her own bathroom and turning the shower on. It wasn't long until she was wandering out into the kitchen, fully dressed, and ready for the day ahead of her.

"Good morning," Jess greeted, smiling brightly, "I see you found the clothes?"

Jayme glanced down at the jeans, boots and black top, "Yeah, thanks, you really didn't have to," She stated, running a hand through her hair, still slightly warm from the hairdryer.

"Why wouldn't I? I love shopping; it was so much fun,"

"Good, I'm glad,"

"So did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks for letting me stay here, Jess,"

"No problem. Do you want toast? I'm making some now,"

"That'd be great," She replied, smiling at her.

About half an hour later, the two arrived at the ARC in Jess's car, and headed up towards the main control room where Jess was soon at work by the ADD monitors. Jayme glanced around, checking to see if anyone was watching before wandering down towards the gym and sliding into the room. She soon found Danny sat on one of the benches waiting for her.

"You took your time," He stated, standing up onto his feet and walking over to her.

"Sorry about that, are you sure we're safe to talk here?"

"Yeah, they have security cameras but no sound recorders so we're fine. And no one's in here, I've checked,"

"Good," She murmured, nodding her head and looking around her. "What're we going to do?"

"If we can hack into the government files, we might be able to see where Amanda is,"

"Only if she's checked in,"

"I'm hoping she has, her life must be pretty demanding. It's why she doesn't stay on the other side of the anomalies for long; she doesn't want anyone suspicious,"

"What if they trace the hack?"

"They won't,"

"Can you even hack a computer?"

"I was on the police force; I learnt a few things from a friend there a few years ago,"

"It takes serious skill to hack into those kinds of government files, I'm not even sure Jess or Connor could do it completely undetectable, even if they could, we-"

"We can't tell them about this. You're just going to have to trust me,"

"You know I trust you Danny, I just don't think this is going to work,"

"We have to try, there's no other way to find her,"

"Alright," She responded, crossing her arms nervously, "How are we going to do this?"

"I'll use one of the laptops, the team won't mind, it's not like they'll know what I'm doing. Even if we can't do this without being detected, as long as we get to her before they come and question the ARC, then we should be fine,"

"Be careful, Danny," She warned, emphasizing each word.

"You know I will," He stated, smirking at her, "I'll do it tomorrow, give her a little more time to check in, but we can't wait too long, who knows what she's planning next," He added, before walking past her and heading towards the door.

"Good luck," She murmured as he disappeared out of sight. This had to work, if they didn't reach Amanda before the mission was interfered with, then it would become near to impossible to take her out. How they were going to do this, Jayme wasn't sure, but she knew they had to; they had to do this before things became too complex.

She wandered back through to the doorframe, leaning against it as she tried to collect her thoughts. She was so certain that she was finished with this, that all of the secrets and lies were behind her, or at least for now. Danny knew what he was doing though, he seemed to anyway. He was after all the team leader of the ARC a few years ago, the team trust him, there had to be a reason for that. Jayme wandered back up to the main control room, glancing around at who was inside. Jess was in her usual spot by the ADD, but she couldn't see any of the team members, or Danny.

"Any anomalies?" Jayme questioned as she walked over to the field co-ordinator, glancing at the monitors.

"None so far; but you _know_ that the alarm goes off when there is one, so what do you really want?" Jess asked, arching her eyebrow as she spun the chair around to face her.

"A distraction," She stated, "I hate walking around here and waiting,"

"Waiting for what?"

"Something, anything; I'm here for reason Jess. I need to finish what I came here to do,"

"You've been here for a day Jayme, things take time,"

"Yeah, well the more time that goes by, and the longer Amanda has been here; the more difficult all of this will get,"

"Why?"

"It's just how these things work, right?" She responded, quickly thinking of a way to answer her question, she couldn't tell her the truth, she and Danny had agreed.

"It'll work out, these things always do,"

"I hope," She murmured, her voice taking an edgy tone.

Jayme tilted her head as movement appeared out of the corner of her eye. She looked over, seeing Connor stood by the wall, indicating for her to follow him.

"I'll talk to you later Jess," She stated, before wandering over into the corridor where the man had disappeared into. "Is everything alright?" She questioned as she approached him.

"Have you seen Becker?" Connor asked her.

"Why would you ask _me_ that?"

"Because I can't find him, I thought he may be with you,"

"Why would he be with me?"

"He said he was going to talk to you, he hasn't said anything yet?"

"No," She began slowly, "Why does he want to talk to me?"

"I think he just wants to straighten some things out,"

"There is _nothing_ to straighten out!"

"Jayme, just let him talk to you, I think you both need it. I need to find him anyway, don't go far, I'll tell him you're around if I see him," He stated, before heading back through into the main control room leaving her alone, again. She really needed to figure out what was going on inside her head. It felt incredibly cluttered, there were so many things happening around her that she wasn't sure what to do. She especially didn't need Becker making things worse, because she knew talking to him would make it all worse; it would make it difficult. She didn't want difficult, but wouldn't it be worse to not speak to him at all, to not know what was going on inside his head. She hadn't spoken to him in three years; maybe it wouldn't be too bad; maybe it _would_ make things simpler. Truth was, she had no idea what to do. Just thinking about Becker complicated her feelings; did she really need to speak to him? He had a girlfriend; anything he could say now wouldn't feel right, and she didn't know how to make it feel right. It would be better to not talk to him, to finish what she came here to do then move on with her life, move on away from Becker, and away from everything that belonged to her past. It was what she wanted, right? She wanted to escape her feelings, to escape her past, and all those memories that haunted her, both before the ARC and after; it was the only way that made sense.


	5. Chapter Five: The Creature

Becker headed back into the main control room looking for Jayme. He had to find her; they really needed to talk while he still had the courage to do so. He wasn't even sure what he was going to say, but he knew they needed to figure some things out, clear the situation. He was approached Jess, she might know where she is, only to be stopped by Connor rushing over to him. He stopped in his tracks as the man skidded towards him.

"Becker! I've been looking for you," He exclaimed, pointing his fingers at the soldier.

"Connor, what's up?"

"Well, two things, Jayme's over there if you still want to speak to her and-"

The sound of the ADD going off rang through the ARC, interrupting Connor's response. Within moments of the anomaly alert, the alarm faded bringing the team to a halt as they began pouring into the room, ready to prepare for the anomaly. Connor furrowed his eyebrows, staring confusedly at the monitors. Becker caught sight of Jayme walking into the room, heading straight towards Jess, her face showing a slight puzzled expression.

"Jess, what was that?" Matt questioned, as he wandered onto the scene.

"I'm not sure, it was an anomaly alert, but then it just sort of faded,"

"Are you sure it wasn't a problem with the system?" Connor suggested, joining Jess by the ADD.

"I don't think so, there seems to be a location in the memory, not pinpoint, but I do have a specific area of where the anomaly supposedly opened,"

"Has that ever happened before?" Jayme questioned.

"Well obviously the system has had slight problems in the past, but not like this, there was never an actual location saved in the system. It was usually just the alarm going off, not an anomaly, if that's what it was,"

"We better check it out anyway," Matt stated, glancing at the team, "Emily, Becker and Sam, you three come with me, we don't need the full team to check it out, there's a good chance it was nothing," He explained before turning to face Jess and adding, "We'll have comms so if we do need help, we'll be in touch, the area isn't that far away,"

"Got it, turn your black-boxes on," She instructed, calling after the four team members as they headed up the steps, leaving the main control room.

Jayme glanced at Danny, sharing a look that both knew too well. They needed to talk. The old team leader followed her through a corridor until they reached the gym, the place that was quickly becoming their natural meeting point.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jayme questioned, folding her arms as she looked up at Danny.

"Amanda?" He asked, clarifying the situation. Jayme nodded her head in response, a slight uncertainty lingering on her features. "What is it?"

"Well, we know who she is, and we know what she wants, but it's still not making much sense. I mean, is that all she's after, power?"

"It's what a lot of people are after, trust me Jayme, it makes perfect sense,"

"Wouldn't she have plenty of power in her situation?"

"Not necessarily. She has connections, I agree, but being in her position, it must carry a lot of uncertainty,"

"Maybe, why does she need the anomalies for power though?"

"Ever since the convergence, some people didn't buy the whole scientific phenomenon theory, some people still suspected that it was a cover-up,"

"Some people? As in the one's Amanda's working for?"

"Exactly, and only because Amanda leaked the info to them about the cover-up, and if they're trying to dig into this and if Amanda's figured the whole anomaly thing out then it's obvious she'll take advantage of it. She'll use it to have power over everyone, to have ultimate power; and a bunch of nasty creatures to go alongside it,"

"Ok, we know Amanda is interested in the power of the anomalies, and the creatures inside them. So are we figuring that she was responsible for the split second anomaly fiasco?"

"Like I said before, it all makes perfect sense,"

"What do you think she did? Where did the anomaly come from?"

"I reckon she's trying to make one, either that or it was an accident. Who knows what she's doing,"

"So in other words, the area the anomaly was in, could be near Amanda's whereabouts?"

Danny nodded his head, slowly grasping the situation, "If we get to her now..."

"Then we can stop her before people interfere," Jayme finished, smiling at him in agreement.

"We need to follow them, get to the anomaly site,"

"I'm right behind you," Jayme stated, following him out from the gym and straight back into the main control room.

"Jess, where was that anomaly?" Danny questioned, wandering up behind the field co-ordinator, and past Connor who was busy on the phone.

"It was here, do you see that area before the forest starts, the location was around there," She informed, pointing her finger at the map on her screen, showing Danny where the anomaly was.

"Got it,"

"Wait, why do you need the location?" Jess asked, turning to face him.

"I'll get back to you on that one," Danny murmured, jogging away from her before she had a chance to respond, and towards Jayme who stood waiting for him at the door that led out of the control room, towards the elevator.

"Got the location," Danny stated, glancing along at Jayme.

"How do we get there?"

"I've got Connor's keys,"

"Did he give them to you?" Jayme questioned, raising her eyebrow at the man.

"Not exactly," Danny responded, "But he won't mind,"

"Yeah, just don't crash the car,"

He smirked at her response; Connor would kill him if he crashed his car. Not that he would, he cared about Connor, his old team member. He wouldn't do anything to purposely anger him, or any of the team members in fact; he cared about all of them. Sometimes things needed to be done, for example, borrowing Connor's car, he was hoping he wouldn't find out anyway.

.

.

.

Danny pulled the car into the side of the road, turning off the engine and facing Jayme.

"The anomaly was around the area over there, near the forest, you can see Matt's car already there. We need to check it out, without being seen,"

"So we'll check around the trees, if we go off to the left, we can circle around without being noticed and search through the forest. There might be something in there anyway," Jayme responded.

"Makes sense, we'll do it your way then,"

Jayme nodded at him before stepping out of the car and heading towards her left, wandering around a couple company buildings. She listened intently to the area surrounding her, paying attention to every little detail that interrupted the silence. She could hear the muffled conversations of people on the street, heading to work, or some other form of place. The trees of the forest gradually drew nearer, allowing Jayme and Danny to camouflage behind them. They wandered through the edge of the forest, approaching the area close to the ARC team.

"If Amanda's around, she won't be easy to find, it could be something in the forest, it could even be in one of those buildings we walked by. We just need to find some form of proof that she's been here," Jayme stated, keeping her voice low.

"Keep your eyes open then," Danny murmured in agreement.

Jayme split away from him, stepping carefully across the forest floor as she searched for something, anything. They just needed a sign that she had been here, a sign that the split second anomaly was her doing. If they could get any sort of indication of her whereabouts, things would be a lot simpler. Especially now that she was here, when she was in the present she had protection, she was harder to get to, harder for Jayme and Danny to find her and stop her. They could hear the ARC team talking, most likely discussing whether to leave yet, there didn't seem to be anything particularly strange about where they were; they probably assumed the anomaly was a fluke, or that the system had encountered some form of problem. Jayme and Danny knew better, they knew about Amanda, they knew that there was more to this than a simple accident. It had to be Amanda; if it wasn't they were back to square one, with no idea of where she would be. The only plan they had so far was Danny hacking government files, Jayme wasn't too sure about that one, she couldn't see it ending well. A branch crackled above them, causing the two to jump slightly. She glanced up into the leaves, eyeing the tree; must be the wind, or a bird.

They resumed their search, not noticing the streak of dark gold that shifted through the strong branches in the tree beside the one they were looking at. It stayed hidden, camouflaging well due to the pattern of the fur that covered the creature. The heavy branches and leaves covered the sky, not allowing much light through into the forest, perfect conditions for the creature to stay concealed. It stalked the two from above, its distinct hearing and sight picking up on every movement. The creature let out a low growl as it bounded silently to the top of another tree. Luckily for the creature, the trees were incredibly strong, each time it leapt to another, the tree barely even vibrated.

Danny and Jayme continued searching, delving slightly deeper into the forest, unaware of the eyes that fell upon them; the large pale green eyes that focused on them from afar. The creature stepped out onto another branch, its padded paws silencing the movement.

"What is it?" Danny questioned as Jayme stopped in her tracks.

"These markings," Jayme responded, moving closer to the tree beside her. Her fingers traced the peculiar engravings in the bark, as if something clawed the tree; something with very sharp, strong claws.

"It'll be nothing," Danny assured, glancing at the markings on the tree trunk.

"Don't we both know that these kind of things aren't usually nothing," Jayme stated, turning her attention away from the tree and towards Danny, "We should check to see if the ARC team are ok," She added, before pushing past him and back towards the edge of the trees.

"Wait up," Danny called, keeping his voice low, as he jogged up behind Jayme, heading back towards the area where the team were.

The creature hissed, baring the strong white teeth that filled its mouth. The two canines were reasonably longer than the other teeth, and incredibly strong. Its whole jaw and teeth were incredibly powerful; it was certainly the type of creature you wouldn't want to run into.

They peered through the trees, soon finding the team stood by the car, deep in conversation. They didn't seem to have found anything, and luckily, nothing seemed to have found them.

"Looks like they're alright," Jayme told Danny, glancing back at him.

She spun around as another branch cracked above her, a few yellowing leaves fluttering down by her feet. She looked up, stepping around to her right as she searched through the trees.

"It'll just be bird, Jayme, don't be paranoid," Danny stated, leaning against one of the tree trunks and watching as she gazed up through the branches.

"There's something up there, Danny," She whispered, before averting her attention to one of the trees near her. She wandered over to it, hooking her feet into the stumps and gaps of the trunk and reaching her hands up into the bark. In moments, Jayme had climbed up into the tree, disappearing out of Danny's sight. He shifted forward, glancing nervously into the branches.

"Jayme?" He called after her, listening as the forest fell into silence once more.

Jayme sat against one of the branches on the tree, leaning against the trunk for support. She searched through the gaps between different trees, checking for any sign of movement. A dark gold figure shifted into her sight, paws perched on one of the thicker branches. Jayme focused on the figure, waiting for the small streaks of sunlight to highlight it, so that she could make out exactly what it was. Light shone onto its face, and soon enough, she found herself staring into a pair of big, green eyes.


	6. Chapter Six: Uncertainty

"Jayme?"

She could hear Danny calling her, she couldn't respond, the creature would surely attack if she made any sudden movement or sound. Glancing down discreetly, she slowly slid her hand around the branch for support. She only had one chance to get down from here without being attacked by the predator. She would have to jump. The creature extended another leg, placing its paw along the branch. She watched it, slowly absorbing each feature, studying it as it stalked her. It stood at about one metre in height on all fours, its legs were quite short, most likely to allow it to climb into trees. It was compact and well-muscled, yet it was agile in its movement. Its head was robust, and its jaw looked powerful, one bite would definitely crush through bone. The creature snarled at her, revealing sharp and deadly teeth. Jayme glanced down nervously at the ground; she had to do this now. The creature lunged towards her, sharp claws only missing her by a fraction as she dropped down from the branch and plummeted to the ground. A fiery pain shot round her ankle, as she pushed herself up onto her feet.

"What the hell was that?" Danny questioned, looking much disorientated.

"It looked like a jaguar of some sort, maybe from the future," She stated, glancing nervously up through the branches as a growl erupted from them. "Run," Jayme ordered in one simple word.

The two ran out through the trees at the edge of the forest, Jayme slightly stumbling on her ankle which was weakened from the fall. The team looked up as movement sprung from beside the trees. Bewildered for a moment as they found Danny and Jayme in their sights, the team soon sprung into action with the EMD's as a creature emerged through the thicket behind the two. Jayme and Danny reached the team, panting for breath.

"What are you two doing here?" Matt questioned, whilst powering up his EMD.

"Creature now, questions later," Jayme responded, the words rushing out all too quickly. She turned around and pulled an EMD from out of the cargo area of the truck. The creature growled at the team members as bullets shot out at it, yet it dodged every single one. "Definitely from the future," Jayme whispered to herself, watching as the jaguar-like creature leapt in different directions with speed immensely fast compared to the present day jaguar.

Becker ran off to the side, re-charging his EMD as the creature lunged for the team. The only thing keeping them alive was its confusion towards who it would attack; the EMD bullets were flying from every direction, disorientating the creature. Danny took another EMD from the car and wandered around the outside of the team swiftly, keeping his eyes glued on the creature. It didn't seem to have noticed him moving, it was too busy dealing with the others. He stepped forward slightly, aiming the EMD at the creature, carefully following its movements. The jaguar-like predator dropped to the ground. One bullet. To the head. That was all it took. Danny just had to manoeuvre in when the creature was distracted. Luckily, he had shot it without being injured, or catching its attention.

"Nice work," Matt stated, patting the man on the back as Danny made his way back over to the car.

"Yeah, neat trick, going around while it's distracted an' everything," Sam added, jumping onto the side of the car and sitting down as the team fell into conversation.

"It's been a while since we've fought side by side," Becker stated, wandering over to Jayme who was crouched beside the creature, fingers tracing over its features.

"You make it sound like some big battle," Jayme responded, not looking up at the soldier.

"Sometimes it feels that way,"

"What do you want, Becker?" Jayme questioned, sighing. She glanced at him, standing up as she did so, and folded her arms.

"We need to talk,"

"Not now we don't,"

"Jayme, please. If we don't talk now, I might not get the courage to try again,"

"I didn't realise I was so scary," She stated, sarcasm edging her tone.

"That's not what I meant. I just want to clear things up; we need to talk about everything that's happened,"

"Becker, I don't think that's such a good idea,"

"Why not?"

"Because-"

"Hey," Sam greeted, wandering over to the two. Jayme glanced at Becker, their eyes meeting for only second before she turned to face Sam. "Am I interrupting something?" She questioned, her gaze flickering between her boyfriend and Jayme, the two had become extremely silent as she had approached.

"Yes,"

"No," Jayme stated, in chorus with Becker's response. Jayme shot an annoyed look at him, falling back into silence once more.

Sam raised an eyebrow at the two, why were they acting so strange? They were clearly talking about something? And whatever it was, they had shut up rather quickly when they saw her. Come to think of it, she didn't really know much about Jayme, she knew that she was Cutter's daughter, who Sam had only met about once, and that she travelled through anomalies, but that was about all she knew. Becker never talked about Jayme, not even once. Although she did once hear from Jess that they had been trapped in the future together for almost four months; but Sam wasn't sure how well they knew each other, did they have history? Was that what all of this was about? She would ask Connor, he would tell her whatever she needed to know; Connor could never keep things to himself for long, it only took a little persuasion. She would find out what they were talking about, and why they didn't want anyone overhearing.

"We should probably be getting back to the ARC," Jayme announced, before walking away from Becker, leaving him alone with Sam. How did Becker expect to talk to her with so many distractions surrounding them? She didn't understand, not that she wanted to. What was she supposed to say to him, there were so many things to discuss, yet she didn't think she could, she didn't want to talk to him as if nothing had ever happened, it wasn't normal, and it wasn't fair on either of them.

"Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Sam asked, crossing her arms at the soldier in front of her.

"Course not," Becker responded, glancing up at Jayme as she wandered away towards the car, falling into conversation with Danny, Emily and Matt. "Come on, we should go," He added, without looking back at Sam, and headed towards the team.

"I've contacted the ARC, they'll come to collect the creature," Matt informed as Becker and Sam re-joined the group. "And one other thing," Matt began, his gaze flickering between Danny and Jayme, "What exactly are you doing here?"

Danny glanced over at Jayme, "The truth?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at the brunette.

She nodded in agreement, averting her attention back to the team leader, "We thought the anomaly might have something to do with Amanda," She stated, "We have no idea how to find her, this might have been a way, but we couldn't find anything relating to her,"

"Who exactly is Amanda, and I don't want another vague response like you gave to Lester, I know you know more,"

"Look, we honestly don't. All we know is that she is interested in the anomalies, we don't know why, we don't know how she found out, we just know she's involved," Danny interjected, his voice firm and calm, not leading anyone to question it.

"How did you two come across her then?" Matt questioned, raising his eyebrows at the two.

"Actually, Jayme did first; I just joined the adventure,"

"Fine, how did _you_ do it?"

"I found her in the Pliocene; I didn't know why she was there so I began following her. All I know is that she's interested in the anomalies, I can't exactly go and ask her,"

"Maybe not, but how did you work out that she's interested in them,"

"I overheard a phone conversation after I followed her back through into the present,"

"Wait, so you've been back here, before now?" Becker interjected, looking straight at Jayme.

"A few times, yeah," Jayme murmured, glancing down at the ground nervously.

"And you didn't think to maybe see someone, or at least tell Nick you're alive, keep him from worrying,"

"My dad knows me well enough to know I can handle myself. And this isn't even about him, is it?"

"Ok!" Matt exclaimed, breaking the conversation, "I hope you're telling us the truth; that that's all you know about her,"

"It is," Danny responded, keeping eye contact with Matt.

"Just leave it Matt, we should go back to the ARC, we need to figure out why the anomaly only opened for a second anyway," Emily stated, gently rubbing her fiancé's arm soothingly.

"Wanna' bet you know something about that," Sam added in her husky voice, looking pointedly at both Danny and Jayme.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Jayme questioned, stepping forwards towards the soldier.

"Just that you seem to know a lot more than you say, always showing up when trouble arises,"

"How else am I meant to stop it if I don't show up?"

"I just think you're more involved,"

"I think it's none of your business,"

"Anything with the anomalies is my business, it's our job,"

"And it's my job to stop Amanda, you ok with that, since I seem to need _your_ permission all of a sudden,"

"Whatever you know about this Amanda, you need to tell us, and you should _stay _out of it,"

"This is my life, this is my mission, I'm not staying out of it, neither is Danny,"

"It's not Danny I have the problem with,"

"And that's supposed to mean…"

"Well, you are pretty famous when it comes to a good lie,"

"You know nothing about my life, and I really rather _you _didn't,"

"What's your problem?" Sam questioned, raising her voice and closing in the gap between the two of them.

"_My _problem?"

"Ok, let's break this up before it gets physical!" Matt announced, stepping abruptly between the two women. "Whatever problem you two all of sudden have for each other, get over it. We have more important things to do right now. And I hope Jayme, Danny, you have told us everything, I'm trusting you have,"

"I'll get over it when she stops trying to swoop in and take charge," Sam stated, glancing over at Matt who still stood between the two.

"Sam, just drop it, we'll talk about this later," Matt responded, calming the soldier down before her anger rose. She grew quite the fiery temper when she became too mad; he was really hoping that wouldn't happen; although it had been a close one.

"Fine," She added, walking away from him and towards the car door, the silence that followed her was deadly; Matt, Emily and Becker knew that. Whenever Sam was mad with someone, she either shouted or remained silent; talking about it wasn't her favourite thing.

Jayme glanced quickly at Becker, catching his eye as he stood awkwardly watching the scene between Sam and her. This wasn't easy for him; it was hard enough trying to figure out how things would work with Jayme back in his life, now he had to deal with Sam's questions about her. He didn't even know what to say; truth was, he had no idea what was going on between him and Jayme, he wasn't even sure he did when she first came into his life. Things with Jayme were always complex; after all, it was dangerous to feel things towards a person when faith and trust were shaky; no one wants to feel unsure when they give their heart away, no matter how unexpected it was. Then again, Becker wasn't completely sure that he had given his heart away; it wasn't something that happened often, hardly at all in fact. All he knew at the moment was that he cared deeply for her; the rest he would figure out along the way, he had to figure it out, it was the only way to try and make sense of things.

"We'll drive back with Connor's car," Danny stated, nodding at the team leader, Matt, and indicating for Jayme to follow him. She did, not daring to look back at Becker. There was no way for her to decide on what he was feeling, he refused to show his emotions, and she refused to share her own, not when uncertainty lingered on every corner. She didn't want it to be this hard, but like always, she couldn't escape it. She could never escape it.


	7. Chapter Seven: What Lies Beneath

The air surrounding the Amazon rainforest was humid, a clammy warm feeling that stuck to your skin and stained your lungs; making them feel heavy and strained. The chorus of birdsong and insect chirping played the melody of the forest, occasionally being disrupted by the growls of futuristic creatures. The canopies of the trees blocked the sunlight above from corrupting the luscious shades of greens that coloured the plants across the forest floor. A maze of rivers trickled close to them, adding to the gentle melody of the Amazon.

The light soon vanished into thin air behind the creature as it leapt through the ball of energy. The blonde shifted away from the trunk of the large tree, returning to her original stance and rubbing the dirt from her black shorts.

"I really hate those things," She stated in disgust, whilst peering through the branches in search for more jaguars. The jaguars here were vicious, ever since the expeditions by humans had increased, they evolved into fiercer creatures; being more accustomed to the taste and hunt of human flesh. The jaguars of the future were stronger, larger, more agile, and overall extremely dangerous. The good thing was they still hunted alone; these creatures were very isolated from each other, preferring their own company, the exception being during mating season.

"Where to now?" The man beside her questioned, loading the gun he held in his hand.

"The rendezvous location, as always," The blonde responded, already making her way through the familiar plants of the Amazon. The quicker she was out of here, the better. She didn't want to be wandering through here for a minute longer than necessary.

"What is it you want this time?" The same man asked, his questioning tone beginning to annoy the blonde, she hated people asking questions, especially when they needn't know the answers.

"I have someone dropping off a package for me," She stated, glancing back at him for a second. Pierce Cox was, nonetheless, a trusted associate of hers, although not the most essential person involved in her objective. He has, however, proved himself useful in most situations they had encountered. Pierce was a rather strong man, usually being the muscles of the operation, though he was, on occasion, quite the cunning man, being able to remain smart in his actions, and conceal himself if needed. Then there was Christian Turner, the scientist, clearly known for his brains in the small organisation the blonde had created for herself. When she had first met him, he was a very reserved and cautious man, although his intelligence sold him straight away. The blonde admired his brains, although she rarely admitted to it. After the year working towards her objective, and various missions they had shared, he no longer looked like the tidy man he had once been, a rather rugged look overcame him now, this did, however, highlight his handsome features, something that surprised his co-workers after the change in his appearance. Yet Christian Turner was still to this day, the intelligent scientist he had always been, and caution would frequently remain on his mind, he wasn't usually one for taking risks. The third man alongside them was Antonio Rodríguez, the only man of the blonde's organization who had superiority over her. Due to the fact that he didn't only work with her for this mission, she worked for him in a different organization, an organization run by a man of the name Ramon Martínez. A man that no one would dare get on the wrong side of, he wasn't known for his understanding or his friendliness. He preferred getting the job done, no matter the cost, power was all he wanted. Power was all anyone in this business wanted; something that both Antonio and the blonde wanted, as well as to overtake Ramon and his organization, and then the country. The anomalies and what they held was the only answer, the most effective way to gain power over everyone.

"Package?" Antonio questioned; his Spanish accent murmuring in her ear as he wandered up behind her.

"Nerve control technology," The blonde informed, while lifting a leafy plant over her head to wander through the gap.

"For the jaguars?"

"Exactly,"

"Will it work?"

"Turner claimed it will,"

"We're approaching the rendezvous," Christian stated, his aristocratic English accent sounding clearly over the rainforest melodies.

The blonde climbed over another tree root and headed over towards the metal shelter situated in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, big enough to fit only the building. The door opened swiftly as the four approached, revealing a well-muscled man wearing dog tags, a green vest top and camouflage combat trousers. He had been in the future for a few months now, and after many incidents involving the jaguars, the results showed. A long scar ran down his arm, and several cuts remained on the showing skin. It was his duty to protect anyone who travelled through into the future; it was the reason the blonde had hired him; after all, she knew there would need to be many expeditions into the future. She needed the creatures that were here, many predators had evolved into more dangerous creatures over the time between the present and where they were now. Especially in the Amazon rainforest, the many species of animals that already lived there in the present were so extremely diverse; and now, in the future, the predators had evolved into more adapt hunters. The soldier was accompanied by a woman who followed him out of the metal shelter, another blonde.

"Miss Croft, it's a pleasure to see you again," The man greeted, leaning against the doorframe nonchalantly.

"You took your time, sis," The other blonde stated, wandering down the steps and towards the small group.

"There were a few problems in the lab, Jade" The blonde responded, smiling at her younger sister. "Do you have the package?"

"We do, just arrived an hour ago from Dean,"

"The future guy, right?" Pierce questioned, hooking the gun strap over his shoulder.

"Yeah, he belongs to this time," The soldier by the metal shelter informed, not moving from the doorframe.

"I'll go find it," Jade stated, turning away from the group and heading back inside the building.

It wasn't long until she reappeared back into the group's sight, carrying a metal box, containing the very thing the blonde had been after. Christian had confirmed that the prototype from the future should work with the creatures, and now she had more to use officially on the futuristic jaguars. The blonde took the box from her younger sister and passed it to Christian, raising her eyebrows as she did so.

"Is the technology intact?" The blonde asked, waiting while the scientist opened the box and checked the inside.

"Appears so," Christian replied, closing the box with one small click, "It should work,"

"Good,"

"Are you going back now?" Jade questioned, watching her older sister turn back towards them.

"Yes, we need to get to the lab,"

"Right, I'll be here, with AJ," She stated, glancing back at the soldier behind her.

"Take care," Antonio added, nodding his head at both AJ and Jade, before checking to see if the area was clear of creatures in order to get back to the anomaly site.

"We will," AJ confirmed, straightening up as he pushed away from the doorframe.

"We'll see you around," The blonde stated, giving her sister a soft squeeze on the arm before turning around and disappearing back through the leafy plants alongside Antonio, Christian and Pierce.

Pierce pulled the gun off his shoulder and held it out again, searching for any creatures that could emerge. The blonde paused, listening to the forest around her. Antonio drew the handgun from the back of his trousers and loaded the weapon. Something was moving close to them. The four moved into a circle, glancing around through the trees and plants. Antonio pressed a finger to his lips then gestured towards a bush just ahead of them, to the left. Pierce moved forward, aiming his weapon at the bush indicated. The silence that seemed to follow was deadly, as if the whole forest was waiting for the result of what was to come. He slowly slipped around a tree, peering behind at the creature lying in wait. He sighed a breath of relief upon seeing a simple tapir feeding amongst the leaves of the bush. He leaned back against the tree, lowering his weapon as he did so.

"False alarm," He stated, before pushing back from the tree trunk and wandering over to the group again. "Just a tapir,"

"Good, we need to get back to the anomaly site," Amanda responded, resuming her walk through the rainforest and towards the area they had entered here in the first place. It didn't take long until they were back at the spot where the anomaly would open; all the blonde had to do was activate it. She pulled the futuristic device out from the shoulder bag she had; the device soon lighting up and coming to life as she turned the power on and began adjusting the settings to enable the anomaly to open back through into the present. They all waited until soon a small light grew from the air surrounding the anomaly site. The light expanded, forming the familiar sight of the anomaly, the glass-like shards of energy circling out as they opened to form a gateway in time. They all wandered through the anomaly onto the concrete floor ahead of them, into the present time. The light vanished behind them, leaving the group in darkness until the lights in the room flashed on.

"Miss Croft, do you have the package?" A woman questioned, as she sauntered into the room. Her dark red hair was spun into a bun at the top of her head, and her brown eyes glistened in the illumination of light.

"Yes, is it ready?" The blonde asked, taking the box from Christian and passing it to the woman, Laura Green. She, alongside Christian Turner, was head of the research section, where they would experiment with the technology. After the prototypes seemed to be a success, the blonde was hoping the finalized version would work perfectly.

"Just about, it's awake right now, we need to sedate it to fix the nerve control," Laura replied, "If you just follow me," She added, turning around and wandering out of the room, box in hand.

"Has it shown any signs of distress?" Christian questioned, raising his eyebrow at the redhead.

"Just a little, being out of its own environment will do that, but it's perfectly healthy for this,"

"Good,"

"Any problems with the creature that arrived through the anomaly we travelled through?" Christian asked, remembering about the jaguar that had sneaked through after pouncing on the group.

"It escaped, the hatch was open; it made its way through into the forest. I'm sure it'll be fine,"

"As long as it didn't kill anyone, I don't need any more staff dying," The blonde stated. After all, there had been a few incidents that occurred during the anomalies, security staff being killed from predators, nothing too severe, just a couple men; it hadn't been anyone of high importance to her.

"So, are you guys going to attach that little device to its brain?" Pierce asked, following the group through further into the building.

"That's the plan," Christian responded, glancing back at the man as they wandered through the area. The building was situated underground, no windows or natural light made it through into the rooms, although they were brightly lit due to electric lights. The building was mostly concrete flooring, walls and metal doors, hidden from the world. Only the small organization knew its location, buried beneath a forest, the entrance concealed from sight. The group entered the containment zone, walking over to a one sided glass screen, overlooking a room. The room had one door leading into it; there was nothing in there; there were no furniture or objects. All that filled the room was one thing, one creature, prowling the room, circling the small area, a jaguar, from the future of the world.

"I'll send the team in shortly to sedate it, as soon as it's out, we can transfer it to the lab, fit the nerve control onto it," Laura announced, surveying the futurist predator as it paced the room, placing each padded paw carefully down in front of the next.

"Then it'll be under your control," Christian stated, "You can command it to kill whoever you wish, it will have to obey,"

Antonio moved closer to the blonde who stood close to the glass, watching the creature in the room. He placed one arm around her waist, pressing close to her before whispering one question in her ear, "Satisfied, Amanda?"


	8. Chapter Eight: Restless

Danny sat against the driver's seat of the car, silence falling over him and Jayme. He glanced over at her; her eyes were focused on the road, despite the car being parked. She could feel his eyes on her, yet she couldn't turn her head, she didn't want to. She knew he wanted answers, she just didn't know what to say; she needed answers herself.

"Jayme, what happened between you and Becker three years ago?" Danny questioned, after a few moments of silence, his tone firmly demanding a response.

Her gaze flickered out to the window beside her, "I told you the truth before, nothing ever happened between us," Jayme replied, turning her head towards the man, "We kissed, once, if that. Look, Danny, we spent three and a half months together in the future, I cared about him, but it doesn't matter now,"

"Clearly it does, or were you not aware of what just happened. You and Becker were talking, Sam became a part of it and then suddenly you and she were at each other's throats. All of this matters to you Jayme, I can see it,"

"Danny, I don't need this from you," She stated, the volume of her voice taking her by surprise, she hadn't meant to shout, "It's too complicated, all of this..." She murmured, "I just haven't figured things out for myself yet, I need my own answers first,"

"Thank you,"

"For what?"

"Telling the full truth for once, you're not one for sharing your feelings if you haven't noticed?"

She smiled a little, "It's not something I like to do," She admitted, turning her attention back to the road ahead of her. "We should get back to the ARC," She added.

"Yeah," Danny stated in agreement, before turning the key and bringing the car to life. He drove back off the curb and onto the road, starting the journey back to the ARC.

It didn't take long until they were back, standing in the main control room, listening while Matt informed the team of what happened back at the clearing by the forest.

"Wait, another anomaly opened while we were gone?" Matt questioned, clarifying what the field co-ordinator was telling him.

"Yes, just for a second, once again. It was only a few minutes ago. Connor checked out the ADD, it seemed legit, we don't think there's something wrong with the system.

"Same area?"

"Yeah,"

"So most likely, the same anomaly,"

"And you think it was a future anomaly?" Jess asked, glancing over at the team leader. He had said just before that the creature had extreme speed and strength, only one other predator came to mind. The future predator that had attacked her and Lester three years ago; the last day she had seen Jayme. But Matt had also said that it looked like a Jaguar, so not the same future predator, if that even existed now. After all, they had changed the future after New Dawn, who knew what the future was like now. They hadn't ventured through into a future anomaly during those three years since Jayme had left, the last future anomaly any of the team members had gone through was the one Connor had been stuck in during New Dawn, the one Abby and Matt had travelled through in search of him, luckily all three of them had arrived back through to save the world. Neither of the team members had any idea what the future now looked like. Truth was they were slightly scared of what it would be like now; it held them back from the curiosity that lingered. If future jaguars lived in the future, then at least they knew it was a life sustainable environment, better than the future that New Dawn had created.

"That's what we're guessing," Matt responded, "It explains the creature, it was definitely not from the past, the future is the only explanation,"

"At least we now know the future is nothing like it was before," Connor stated, saying the exact same thing that lingered on everyone's mind.

"That's a good sign," Emily added, "But we still need to figure out why the anomaly only opened for a second,"

"Ask Jayme," Sam murmured, glancing over at the brunette.

"Don't start this again," Matt instructed, his gaze flickering between the two.

"Start what again?" Connor questioned, a confused expression falling onto his face.

"You really don't want to know," Danny stated, putting an end to the conversation, they really didn't need to get into the argument between Jayme and Sam again, it was completely pointless.

"Look, Connor, Jess, you two try and find out why the anomaly closed so quick, there may be something on the ADD you can work on, everyone else, just get back to your jobs, we don't have any more field work right now, so there's nothing else here we need to discuss," Matt informed, instructing the various team members to go off and continue their usual daily routine, eventually leaving only Danny and Jayme still standing in the once full circle.

"I'm going to the treadmill, this day has been way too stressful way too early," Jayme stated, wandering away from Danny and towards the gym. There was nothing else she could do anyway, Danny wasn't planning on hacking into the files until tomorrow; there was no one she needed or wanted to talk to right now. All she needed was to relieve some tension, a good work out would solve that problem, well she hoped. At least it would for a little while, but a little would be better than nothing.

The rest of the day moved relatively quickly, especially for Jess. Although her and Connor still couldn't see anything abnormal with the ADD and the anomaly that had opened. The only thing they could think of was that someone had actually opened it themselves, and the only person who crossed their minds was the mystery woman Danny and Jayme were after, Amanda. Problem was; they didn't know enough about the situation to decide whether that option could be true, and Danny and Jayme didn't seem like they wanted to share the information, unless what they were saying was true and they didn't actually know anything else. Basically, Jess had no idea, her head was so muddled from today's events that she felt like the only good thing would be going home and relaxing. Maybe she could talk to Jayme about it all, they _were_ living together; maybe she would be a good person to confide in, just to have someone to talk to.

By the time Jess and Jayme were ready to go home, Jess was pretty sure her head was going to explode. It felt good to feel the cold air hit her face as they wandered out from the building, it was oddly refreshing. As soon as they had arrived back at Jess' apartment, Jess wandered over to the sofa and fell down into the cushions, leaning her head back to calm the thoughts racing through her mind.

"Is everything ok? You've been really quiet today," Jayme stated, walking over to the field co-ordinator and sitting down beside her. She didn't really do these kinds of things, trying to comfort others wasn't something she did. She never really had to, there hadn't ever been anybody to comfort in her life; she hadn't gotten close enough to anyone to have to do that. There was only ever a few people in her life that she was close to, Kayla, a friend from her childhood, someone she hadn't spoken to since she was about twelve, and Jason, a boy she had dated when she was fourteen, but both of those relationships had ended badly. Kayla stopped talking to her, although that was more likely her own fault than her friend's, and Jason broke up with her. Then there was her mother, her father, and Becker. Her mother had used her; and her father and Becker? Well she wasn't sure what they now felt towards her. Things were so confusing lately. But now she was living with Jess, she was with her a lot, which included the times when she needed someone to talk to, now that someone would be her. She knew that Jess was a kind person, but Jayme didn't know how to trust her completely, she didn't really know how to fully trust anyone. Yet, wasn't the best way to find out if you can trust somebody to trust them, despite the hurt that could follow. That was what she needed to realise, to understand that she was allowed to trust someone; that the walls were allowed to come down, that not everyone would hurt you in the end. These things came with time; that was all she needed to remember.

"I've had a lot on my mind," Jess responded, smiling at the brunette beside her.

"Want to talk about it?"

"It's just these anomalies, I don't understand why they're only opening for a second; it makes no sense. And Connor thinks it might be to do with that Amanda person you and Danny are after but we don't know enough to confirm anything. Everything has just been so stressful, and Matt really wants answers, in fact he's demanding them every minute, but I can't give them. It's just, it's been a long day," Jess finished, sighing as she did so.

"Tell me about it," Jayme replied in agreement. Things hadn't been any easier for her either, even though she did know more about Amanda than she was letting on, yet there was still no way to confirm anything, she and Danny weren't completely certain that Amanda had been behind the anomaly.

"I think I need a lie down," Jess stated, pushing back up from the cushions, "Thanks for listening, I know you can't really do anything to fix it, but it's nice to just let it all out,"

"Don't worry about it," Jayme murmured, as Jess wandered away into her bedroom and shut the door quietly behind her. How that relatively small conversation had helped Jess was beyond Jayme. If she was feeling better though, Jayme wasn't going to question it, she was just glad that someone was happier about the situation. Unfortunately, she wasn't. She didn't know what Amanda was up to, was she travelling to the future? Is that how the creature came to the present? But then that would only trigger more questions, how did she open the anomalies? What does she want from the future? Does she have connections in the future? She knew that Amanda was involved with the anomalies; she had followed her into the past before. But never the future, she had never seen the new future; she hadn't come across a future anomaly before. If Amanda was travelling through into the future, there must be a reason, after all, the reason Amanda had travelled through the past was to see how the anomalies work. Now that she knows the basic idea of it, she must have a specific reason for going to the future. All Jayme could think of would be the futuristic technology. Being able to get your hands on technology way ahead of your time was definitely interesting. If there was a reason Amanda needed technology like that, then the future would be the ideal place, but what technology would she want; and why? Or maybe it was for the creatures; animals that had evolved over time, in some cases they were stronger, or more dangerous. That might be appealing to her if she wanted power. Danny had said Amanda was most likely after power, and she had to admit, it did make sense. The question is; how was she planning on gaining that power? How many people were going to die because of her while she tried get to where she wanted to be? Jayme needed to stop her, before anything bad happened. Well she was hoping that Amanda hadn't done anything bad yet, who knows what she's managed to do since she arrived back into the present.

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**A/N: Sorry, not a very exciting chapter. Thanks for the reviews :)**


	9. Chapter Nine: Tell Me No Lies

The ARC was fairly quiet for a Wednesday morning; very few employees were out and about. As soon as Danny and Connor had arrived, Connor had wandered off towards his office in order to work on the anomaly situation from yesterday. It appeared that Jess and Jayme hadn't arrived yet considering the ADD was empty and Jayme would've checked in with him once she had turned up. Although the silence through the building would work to his advantage, less chance of being interrupted while he worked on the computer. He needed to hack into the government files today; they needed to find out where Amanda was. Had she checked in? Had she been given an assignment since she came back into the present? Or was she in hiding? Danny just hoped that he could get into the system without being detected, it was definitely going to be hard, but he desperately needed to do it. There was no other way of finding out where Amanda was, not quickly anyway.

Danny popped his head around the door to one of the labs where a laptop lay on the desk, unlocked and unguarded. He stepped back, double checking that no one was around then slid into the room and towards the machine. His gaze flickered around the room, there didn't seem to be anyone inside either, there was no sign of life in the room, clearly no one had entered yet today. He focused his attention to the screen, fists clenching above the keyboard. He could do this, he knew he could. He just had to check the government files to see if there was anything on Amanda from two days ago up to now.

Moments felt like hours as he typed away on the laptop, searching through files, trying his best to remain undetected. He had no idea if he'd succeeded so far, only time would tell. Footsteps drew nearer to the room, Danny turned around, glancing at the doorway. The familiar face of Becker appeared, leaning against the doorframe at the entrance of the room.

"Anything I can help you with?" Danny questioned, a slight impatient tone edging his voice. He didn't need any distractions. The longer he remained on the server of the government files, the higher the chance he had of being detected. That was something he really didn't want.

Becker shook his head silently, glancing back out at the corridor. "Are you sure?" Danny asked, watching as the soldier just stood there, not leaving.

"Yeah," Becker responded, his throat sounding dry. He didn't know what to say. How was he meant to talk to Danny about this? It was too weird.

"Okay, then," Danny murmured, turning back to the laptop. How was he supposed to do this with Becker standing near him, if he saw what was happening on the screen then he would start asking questions. He lingered against the doorframe as Danny typed away on the laptop. Danny could feel the captain's eyes on him as he searched through the many documents on the system. After a few more minutes, he stopped what he was doing and turned around to see Becker still there, looking awkward and out of place.

"Look, I missed you too Becker but is there something you want?" Danny questioned, hoping Becker would just leave. He had to work to do, work that none of the ARC employees could know about, work only he and Jayme knew about.

"Well... I was just..." Becker began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "You and... When..."

"I haven't got all day," Danny stated, smirking at Becker. He had to admit, it was fairly amusing seeing Becker act so awkward, it was a side to him he hadn't really seen before. Although, what he really wanted to know was why he was actually acting like this.

"You and Jayme were together for a few months right?" Becker asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, we travelled together for about five months. Why?"

"It's just... It was only you and her, you know, you must have been lonely. And she was the only company you had. I was just wondering if you and her... If you..."

"Are you asking me if I slept with her?" The old team leader asked, laughing slightly at his team member out of bemusement. He really couldn't believe that this was what Becker was here to ask him about. Did he seriously think that either he or Jayme would do that, their relationship was completely platonic.

"No, well, not exactly, but did you?" Becker questioned, taking a deep breath as he watched Danny, who looked rather amused. He had finally asked the question that had lingered on his mind since he found out Jayme and Danny had travelled together and this was the response he got, laughter? He hadn't really found it that amusing, it had kept him up all night last night; all he ever thought about since Jayme came back was her. What she had experienced during those three years. Had she ever thought about him, like he had her? Did she even care? He desperately hoped she did.

"Becker, the girl's like half my age I _wouldn't_ sleepwith her. She's like a little_ sister_ to me," Danny stated, completely bewildered by Becker's insane accusation. It was fairly hilarious to see Becker asking that though, it didn't seem like it had been very easy for him; he still looked incredibly awkward. But all of this just reinforced his original belief that Becker and Jayme still thought about each other, they still cared. It was obvious Becker cared about her, Jayme was rather defensive on the subject, so she probably did. It all made sense, the problem was that neither of them could see it.

"That's good, I mean, not that I was interested or anything, it's just, never mind," Becker responded, running a hand through his hair.

"Don't you have a girlfriend, Becker; that Sam girl?"

"Yeah; why?"

"I was just wondering why you're interested in all of this, is there a particular reason you wanted to ask all of that?"

"I-I was just curious," Becker stuttered, shaking his head at the old team member. "I better be going, got work to do," He added, before sliding out of the room. That was definitely the weirdest behaviour Danny had ever seen from Becker. The man was usually so controlled and put together. He had never seen him so confused or awkward before, it was quite funny really. Danny enjoyed teasing his team members anyway; this would definitely be something to remind Becker of, not yet though. He had things to do right now. He had files to hack.

Sam wandered into the main control room of the ARC, glancing around at the people inside. Jess and Jayme were seen by the ADD, working on something, most likely the situation with the anomaly. Although, she was pretty sure that Jayme already knew something, she had to. She and Danny had shown up on the anomaly site, they had claimed that they thought it may have been linked to Amanda, but they wouldn't share anything else. Sam knew they were hiding something, the question was what? All of that could wait until later though; she really needed to speak to Connor, preferably now. She just had to find him.

"Emily, have you seen Connor?" The brunette asked as she passed her team member along the corridor.

"In his office, I think," She replied, smiling, before carrying on down the corridor.

"Why didn't I think of that," Sam murmured.

She turned around, heading halfway back up the corridor before taking a left. Eventually she found herself outside Connor's office. Connor Temple was head of research here, although he was exceptional in the field as well. Sam guessed that was from his year spent in the cretaceous with Abby. The main thing Sam knew about Connor was that he had worked here from the beginning, when the ARC team consisted of Lester, Nick Cutter, Connor, Abby and a man named Stephen. Basically, Connor and Nick were probably the two people on this earth who knew the most about the anomalies, excluding Helen Cutter who apparently died trying to wipe out the human race. Connor had to be the smartest man she knew, and probably the geekiest, in a good way. He and Abby were perfect together though, Sam had worked alongside Abby for almost a year before she went on her maternity leave; Abby was very compassionate when it came to the creatures, she didn't want to ever hurt them, just to return them back through into the anomalies. Sam, on the other hand, preferred protecting the team and the public, the creature's well-being was the least of her worries, preventing it from hurting anyone was her main priority. Another couple minutes passed as she stood outside the office door before pushing it open and finding Connor sat at his desk, typing away on his laptop.

"Sam, what's up?" He asked, looking up at the soldier as she entered the room.

"Jayme and Becker; what's their story, before she left," Sam questioned, wandering over to the desk in the middle of the room.

"Oh, you know, they worked together," Connor answered, he was still trying to decide on what to say. Clearly Becker hadn't talked about Jayme to her, and he wasn't sure what had happened between them exactly. He did have the main idea though; at least he thought he did.

"I knew that, but there's more, right? I interrupted a conversation between them and it seemed pretty intense,"

"Why don't you ask Becker?"

"He doesn't talk about Jayme. I tried to get him to last night, but he just got agitated,"

"Look, I wouldn't know what their friendship was like, I didn't really spend that much time with Jayme, she was trapped in the future for nearly four months when she was around here three years ago,"

"Come on, Connor. I know you know something, just tell me. Don't I have right to know?"

"Sam, I don't think I should be the one to talk to about all of this,"

"Come on, Temple, tell me,"

"Fine, but you beat it out of me. I don't know the exact details anyway, but Becker told me that he kissed her once in the future, just once though. There isn't really much to tell, you know he really cared about her, still does. I think it's all just confusing for him,"

"It's been three years, if he's still hung up about her then what I am supposed to do? How is that fair on me?"

"No one said anything about fair, Sam. He can't help how he feels,"

"Three years, Temple, three years. You'd think he would be over it by now,"

"Look, I didn't lie to you, I told you what I think is happening, only Becker knows the full truth,"

"But you think that he's in love with her,"

"I'm pretty sure I didn't say love,"

"Whatever," Sam murmured, turning away from him and heading towards the door.

"I didn't tell you this," Connor rushed out, "Like I said, it's not necessarily true," He only wanted to help Sam; he didn't want to give her false knowledge. But she was right; she did have a right to know about this. Becker probably wouldn't see it that way though, which was why Connor didn't want Sam telling him about this conversation.

"A-ha," Sam responded, continuing her exit out from the office and shutting the door behind her. So Becker and Jayme did have a thing for each other; that wasn't really what she wanted to hear. No wonder Becker was acting so troubled lately, if that's how he felt about Jayme. But where did that leave her, what was she supposed to do? Just sit on the sidelines while he does whatever he's doing. What were they talking about anyway? The past; clearing things up; how they felt now? There were so many possibilities. What exactly did he feel towards her now? It's obvious he cares about her, but to what extent? And did Jayme feel the same way? Probably; it would explain why they've both been acting so weird around each other. She deserved to know how Becker felt though, she wasn't going to be the oblivious girlfriend who didn't know anything, it wasn't fair on her; none of this was fair on anybody right now.

Jayme stood up from the chair beside Jess, putting down the pen she held in her hand. They had been working at the ADD all morning, monitoring any patterns in past anomalies that might suggest something, or indicate what Amanda was up to. There was no such luck, nothing stuck out, everything seemed relatively normal. Or at least as normal as magnetic gateways to the past and future could be.

"Do you want some coffee?" Jayme questioned, glancing at the field co-ordinator as she typed away at the monitors.

"Yeah, didn't sleep very well last night," Jess responded, smiling at the brunette kindly.

"You're not the only one, there's so much going on right now, it's hard to keep track,"

"Exactly,"

"I'll go find us some coffee," Jayme stated, laughing slightly at Jess as she expressed her need for some serious caffeine in her system. Jayme didn't blame her, she wasn't alone. Coffee would be great right about now.

After some time, Jayme made her way to the break room, glancing at the empty pot of coffee on the bench. She was really hoping there had been a fresh batch, but once again, no luck. She would have to make some more herself. She sorted the coffee out, setting the water to boil and sitting down on one of the chairs as she waited. It wasn't long until she was no longer alone in the room. The familiar face of the blonde soldier came into focus as he entered the break room, glancing at the coffee that was in the process of being made.

"Jayme, nice to see you again," Scott stated, wandering over and sitting down opposite her.

"You two," She replied, a friendly smile forming on her lips.

"So, I know this is kind of out of the blue and everything. I don't really do this often, but do you maybe want to get some drinks some time, out of work?" He questioned, sending a charming smile her way.

Well, Jayme really doubted that he didn't do this often, it wasn't the type of impression he gave off. Why was he asking her out anyway? She was pretty sure she hadn't given off any vibes of that sort, although from what she could tell, he didn't really need any. He seemed like the kind of guy who asked anyone out, and that wasn't really something she needed right now. She didn't need any distractions. "I don't think so, sorry. You seem nice and everything, but I'm not interested," She responded, her voice calm. She glanced over at the coffee that was almost finished making, soon enough she could leave.

"Don't worry about it," He stated, his gaze flickering around the room, "Can I ask you a question though?"

"You just did, but go on," She replied, smiling.

"You and Becker, is there something going on there?"

"What would make you think that?"

"He's been acting really protective over you, and, you know, defensive over it," He responded, shrugging.

"I-" She began, glancing around the room. She stopped as she saw Becker appear at the doorway, about to walk into the room. "Becker," She stated, slightly surprised at his sudden emergence. That man didn't have the best of timing, but then again, it got her out of this conversation. "I should be getting back to Jess, with the coffees," She added, standing up quickly and pouring two cups of coffee for her and Jess.

"Jayme, we really need to talk about things," Becker murmured to her as she passed him by the door, "When you're alone," He added, looking pointedly at Scott as the young soldier wandered over to pour himself some coffee.

She didn't respond she just resumed walking; he was right, she knew he was right, they did need to talk. It didn't make it any easier; it didn't mean she suddenly knew what to say. In all honesty, she really didn't want to talk to him, it didn't feel right anymore, it was too hard, things were even more complicated now than they had been three years ago. But she knew they had to eventually, she simply had to build up the courage to do so first.


	10. Chapter Ten: After All This Time

Later that day, things were moving moderately slowly in the ARC, there had been no anomalies, no further progress in yesterday's situation. Everyone was simply back to their normal routine; except Danny. He was searching for Jayme; he had to tell her about what he had found. He wandered down towards the gym, the room that was already becoming a common meeting point between the two. Just as he expected, he soon found her, sat on the weight lifting bench, not moving. She simply stared into space, glancing over at him for a moment as he entered the room. He noticed she didn't look happy, although ever since they came back here a couple days ago she didn't seem like her normal self. Well, she was more conflicted anyway. The problem with Jayme was that she was always conflicted. When Danny first met her he really didn't know what was going through her mind. She did, however, explain everything that had happened with Philip Burton. Since he was very cautious of the renowned daughter of the Cutters', it took a lot of convincing before he believed her story. He had, after all, known she had been with Helen at a time due to the documents he had found, and being with Helen didn't mean anything good, but she managed to show him she wasn't on the wrong side. And he learned to trust her. She didn't really explain anything else though, nothing about her relationships with the team members, nothing about her past, nothing about her feelings. He noticed very quickly that she was extremely closed-off, and determined to stay like that. He understood; she didn't want to get hurt, she tried to hide her emotions, she tried to remain unattached to people, but it was tearing her apart. He could see it. She wasn't supposed to be closed-off, she should be open with her feelings, otherwise it would eat her alive, and it already was. Her act was breaking; the walls she had built around her were crumbling. No matter how hard she tried to keep her emotions locked up, it was no use, her act was starting to fail; her emotions were spiralling out of control. And Danny wanted to help, he cared about her, she was like a little sister to him, the two had become very close; just not close enough to let her spill everything she held back, she still wouldn't share much. She would though, with time. Now that she was back here, with all of these people, with Becker, she might change. She might be able to let go of the past, instead of shutting it out completely. He hoped anyway, for her sake, not his.

"I accessed the government files," The old team leader announced, sitting on the bench opposite her.

"What did you find?" She asked almost instantly, straightening her posture and looking over at him.

"Amanda. Well not exactly. It says she requested time off, so her location isn't mentioned. I presume she's here in London though, why would she be anywhere else?"

"So she's not on any missions then, well, excluding personal ones,"

"Nope, doesn't look like it, but I guess she's working on whatever she's working on. The anomalies; and what they have to offer,"

"Her master plan, whatever that is. You know, besides the whole gaining power thing. The problem is that we don't know the specifics,"

"Yeah, that's the next step,"

"Basically, we are no closer to her than we were before,"

"If you want to look at it that way, then yes,"

"Great," She murmured, leaning back against the weights placed on the bench. She gazed through the window beside her, where would Amanda be? How were they going to find her? She was probably in London still but that didn't answer anything, there were so many possibilities, she didn't even know where to start.

"Jayme," Danny called, causing her to look back over at him, "Are you ok? Be honest,"

"Honestly? No, I'm not really that ok right now,"

"What's bothering you? Apart from the Amanda situation,"

"Just things,"

"Come on, Jayme, you can tell me, you know you can,"

Her gaze flickered to the floor before returning to his, "Becker," She stated, taking a deep breath, "I don't know what to do,"

"What to do?"

"He wants to talk, and I don't know what to say. I really don't like this,"

"You really don't like what?"

"Feeling so vulnerable, I don't get it, I don't want to feel like this, but it won't go away,"

"Jayme, you're human, it's completely natural to feel vulnerable,"

"Yeah, well, it shouldn't be natural," She murmured, running a hand through her hair, that had to be about the tenth time she had done so today, things were becoming more complicated, everyone was becoming stressed.

"Everyone feels vulnerable from time to time, there's not one person out there who stays strong throughout their entire life. Truth is, Jayme, feeling vulnerable is probably one of the strongest things in life, it shows that you're strong enough to admit that there's something bothering you, it takes a lot to admit your feelings sometimes. I'm just glad you're finally accepting that, well, you're getting there. And the next strong thing to do would be to talk about it,"

"I thought that was what we were doing now?"

"I mean with Becker, he should know how you feel. You two really need to sort out your issues, _and_ your feelings. I don't think you've admitted how you feel about him to yourself yet, everyone can tell that there's more to it than what you two are trying to convince yourselves into believing,"

"I don't think I'm ready, Danny, not yet,"

"Well take some time, just not too much,"

"Thanks, for everything," She stated, giving him a small smile, "But I've got to go now," She added, standing up and straightening herself out.

"Where to?"

"I'm going to see my dad; Connor told me where he works. I think I should tell him I'm back,"

"That's a good idea," Danny responded, "I'll see you later,"

"Yeah," She replied, before wandering out of the gym and towards the lift. It _was_ a good idea; she did want to see him. She hadn't said goodbye to him when she had left and it probably wasn't the best decision she had made; although most of her decisions weren't exactly the best. All she had to do now was take Jess' car that she had lent her, and drive to the university that Connor had told her about. She knew the address now, she was pretty sure she had a vague idea of where the building was already. She was just hoping she didn't get lost, that wouldn't be the best of starts.

Luckily, she didn't get lost. It wasn't long until she was parking the car into the large car park of the Central Metropolitan University. After a few moments of gaining composure, Jayme made her way inside the building, stopping a few times to ask for directions to the Department of Evolutionary Zoology. Eventually she found it, and then she found the office of Professor Nick Cutter. Everything seemed so much more real now; talking to her dad after all this time would be strange. She just hoped he didn't hate her for what she did, for lying, and for leaving. She reached down for the handle, her fingers lingering on the metal for a second before opening the door and stepping into the room.

"Professor Cutter?" She called, her lips forming into a smile as she saw her dad looking out of the window in his office.

"What can I do for yo-" He began, turning around to face the person in question, "Jayme?" He murmured, his eyes widening at the sight before him. It sure looked like Jayme, like his daughter. She looked slightly different, but it had been three years; three long years without seeing his daughter, without knowing if she was safe, if she was alive. It had been torture; it was what drove him to leaving the ARC. He couldn't stay there, constantly being reminded of the daughter he had lost, it didn't feel right. But here she was; which led to certain questions. Why was she here; after all this time; why now?

"Hey dad," She responded, wandering into the office. He looked surprised, not that she could blame him. Dropping in here after three years without him having a word of warning, it would surprise anyone.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came back, well I'm kind of on mission, but I am back, and I'm staying... I think,"

"Do you have any idea how much I missed you," He stated, wrapping his arms around his daughter as he pulled her into a hug. He really had missed her; it had eaten him alive not knowing where she was, or if she was ok.

"I'm sorry I left," She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as a tear fell down her cheek, she hadn't realised how much she had missed him until now, she hadn't realised how her leaving would affect his life. Admittedly, she wasn't sure if it would; apparently she was wrong in thinking that.

"It doesn't matter, not anymore," He responded, shifting out of the hug and smiling at her. His daughter was back, that was all that mattered. All that ever mattered was her safety, and now he knew she was all right. It didn't make a difference knowing that she had handled herself fine before he had met her; he was too worried that something could happen, that she might get injured, or worse.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Connor told me. I've actually been back a couple days now; I've been busy, at the ARC. There's this whole thing going on, it isn't important right now," She stated, shaking her head, "I'm just happy to see you,"

"I was so scared that something would happen to you, I've never felt that kind of panic before in my life,"

"Never really thought you were the worrying kind,"

"You're my daughter, Jayme; I care about your safety,"

She paused for a moment, thinking about those words, he cared; which was more than she could say for her mother, although the whole being dead thing resolved that situation. For years now, she needed someone who cared about her. It had been different with her foster parents, they did care, but she didn't care for them. She wasn't fair on them, she didn't value it back then, and it had devastated them. In the actual foster home was worse, no one cared there, not about anyone. She was lucky to leave, she knew that now, but she hadn't acted upon it. For a time she had, in the beginning, then things happened, things that changed her life, things that haunted her, and from then on, she didn't care. She was oblivious to the care people felt for her, and she was ungrateful towards it. That was one of her regrets, the way she had acted towards two people who had taken her in and given her a home. That was over now though, the past stayed locked away, it had to. Otherwise everything from it would follow; all the memories would unravel; it would cause her to remember everything. She didn't want that to happen. Not ever.

"That means more to me than you'll ever know," She responded, smiling back at her dad. The man she had always wanted to meet from as long as she could remember. She had always wondered about her real parents during her entire life. She wondered why they had given her up, why they didn't want her, she knew the truth now, he had told her back around the time when they had first met, and she understood it all. Things had worked out in the end, to an extent. She had a dad who loved her, that was enough, that meant everything to her. It was just everything else in her life she needed to sort out, that was the hard part. She thought that it was all going to be fine after she had left, three years ago. She thought she could lock it all away, like she had always done with the past. But even when you had put the pieces back together, you would never be the same. It didn't matter how hard you wanted to forget, things would creep back; they always would. What had happened during her time at the ARC was just as hard to lock away as her life before then, it took everything she had to try and forget. Yet she couldn't, not completely. And now being here brought it all back, all the feelings, all the memories. She never returned to places that held memories she wanted to forget, for the reason that they would come back. Yet here she was, back at the ARC, back with her dad, those memories had to be remembered, everything surrounding her reminded her of what had happened three years ago. At least they weren't as bad as the memories she had of her life before then, they were what haunted her; they were what scared her the most.

"Come on, I have no lectures at the moment. I'll take my daughter out to lunch," He stated, breaking the silence that overcame them as Jayme's thoughts invaded her mind. He shifted over to his desk and grabbed the jacket resting on the chair.

"That'd be nice," She responded, focusing her attention back on her dad, the reason she was standing in this office in the first place. Maybe her relationship with her dad could be renewed. After everything that had happened with Philip, things became shaky between them. This could be a fresh start to connect with her dad once again; that was something she desperately wanted, what they both wanted.

"Well, we do have a lot to catch up on. Three years of it," He replied, wandering over towards the door, Jayme walking beside him as they began the very long conversation of what had happened those three years she had been gone.


	11. Chapter Eleven: This Is Reality

_There she stood. Frightened. Alone. Behind a closed door they were talking; talking about her 'condition', her 'problem'. She was so young. Too young to be exposed to this. Too young to feel this helpless. An eight year old shouldn't have to go through this, they should be at home, with a family, not here, not having their own foster parents send them away simply because they didn't understand, because they didn't know. All around her people cried, they shouted, they stared; as if their life were simply a mirror image of what they once were. They were all wearing the same clothes, white clothes. Everything here was white; it was driving her crazy already. Why white? What was it supposed to represent? A new start; to refresh the mind and begin again? To her it felt forceful; it was there to corrupt the mind, to change it, to force it into a blank shadow of what it used to be. White represented cleanliness, as if they thought of her as dirty, like she could so easily stain the walls with her thoughts. They wanted control over her, not that they would admit it. That's what they wanted over everyone here, control. They believed them to be a burden, if they could force them into a routine, force their minds to stop thinking for themselves; then they would be 'fixed'. Yet they acted like they cared, they wore a sickly sweet tone with every word; it was fake; it meant nothing. It terrified her. No one believed her. That's why she was here. They assumed there was something wrong with her; if they didn't understand what she was saying, what she was thinking, then there must be, right? That's how it worked here. Everyone here was crazy. She was crazy. That's what this place was about. That's what everyone believed. What they didn't know is that she wasn't. Although every second spent in this place felt like insanity. This was the first time she had stepped through into this building, the first time these walls surrounded her. Now she wouldn't leave. Now she would stay here. Why? Because she was insane. That's what they wanted her to believe. She wasn't. She was telling the truth the whole time. A truth that scared her beyond belief, a truth she was too young to understand. But she would, as soon as she managed to escape this place, she would discover the full story behind what she saw; even if it was dangerous, even if it was fatal. They didn't believe her, no one believed her. It sickened her, it terrified her, what she had encountered paralysed her with fear. But she had to go on, there was a reason behind it all, there was something happening, and she wanted to find out. She wanted to discover the truth. Jayme needed the truth. Even if it killed her._

Two weeks had passed, two long weeks. Nothing had happened, nothing had changed. The ARC was running as usual, there had only been one anomaly during those weeks, one that led to the cretaceous. It was dealt with quickly, they did have to find a couple raptors and attempt to put them back, and they did, eventually. At least no one had died; there had been no injuries either. They were lucky. The problem with nothing happening was that Jayme and Danny were no closer to tracking Amanda down. They had spent two weeks strategising, checking a couple factories and buildings that were abandoned and near the site of the split second anomaly. No luck. They had found nothing. They assumed she was laying low for the moment, probably planning something, but what? That's what they needed to know. The good news was that Danny hadn't been detected hacking into the government files, at least they hoped, no one had said anything; there had been no visits, or queries. It was as if no one knew. Luck may be on their side for that situation. They were glad for it. If he had been detected, then things would have gotten bad, very bad. Other people would become involved, people who trusted Amanda; the very people Danny and Jayme didn't want finding out about their mission. They wouldn't believe them; which was why they kept it a secret, they didn't want interference, especially from people who would put a stop to their mission. That wouldn't be good at all.

The trouble with there being very little action during those two weeks was that there was more time for your thoughts to creep up on you, to drive you crazy. That's how Becker felt. He still hadn't talked to Jayme, this was getting ridiculous, and with every passing second it was becoming harder to try and do. She had been avoiding him, not looking him in the eye, trying her best to stay away from him. It was killing him. He needed to talk to her, his thoughts were eating him alive and yet he couldn't, and she wouldn't. Sam was becoming more confused, more suspicious. He hadn't even been able to focus on her very well; his mind was on someone else. It wasn't fair on her, but he just couldn't understand it. It wasn't the same. Being with Sam, even near her, wasn't the same as simply seeing Jayme. It shouldn't be like that; why did it have to be that way, why couldn't life be easy? Leaving things unsaid led to this exact feeling; much unhappiness has come into the world because of it. Yet he didn't just feel down, he felt angry too, he was mad that she wouldn't talk to him, it meant that he couldn't attempt to fix the situation, he couldn't attempt to put the pieces back together.

"Becker, I have the security reports you wanted," A voice said from the door of his office. He looked up, finding Kate standing by the doorframe, papers in hand.

"Thanks, Kate," He stated, walking over and taking the reports from her. She lingered by the doorway, taking a couple seconds before she spoke again.

"If you don't mind me asking, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's... Everything's good,"

"Good, I'll be in the armoury if you need me," She responded, sending him a friendly smile before leaving the room, the door clicking shut behind her. If he wasn't going to be honest with her then she wouldn't push it, he may not be ready to talk about what was bothering him yet, so she would wait and see what happened.

Becker placed the reports on his desk, glancing around the room for a moment before wandering out of the office himself, and locking the door. He had to stop the confusion in his mind, he needed to talk to Jayme; they had to figure things out. He was determined now, no more waiting around. He had to find her, and talk to her. It was as simple as that. Although what he was going to say was still a mystery, he would just have to think as he spoke, hoping that it wouldn't turn out too bad.

He soon found her in the main control room, leaning against the ADD and talking to Jess; her usually routine for the day. She often helped Jess when she was at the ARC; the two were becoming quite close, they were usually always together. Becker made his way over to them. Jess looked up, glancing quickly at Jayme as she found Becker standing beside them. She knew how awkward things were between them, everyone knew.

"Jayme, I _really _need to speak to you," He stated, his gaze fixed on the brunette.

"Not now, I'm busy," She responded, turning away abruptly and wandering towards a corridor to her right. She walked through it, her pace quickening; she didn't want to talk, not now. It was too hard to even look at him, too painful. He shared a quick look with Jess, she could see the desperation on his face; she was always good at reading people's expressions, so was Emily. It made it very risky to be alone with them if something was troubling you, they always seemed to know. He glanced away, his eyes fixating on the corridor. He moved away, following Jayme through it, his pace increasing as he went.

"Will you just stop walking away and talk to me?" Becker called after her, frustration sinking in. He jogged through the corridor, catching up with her as she sped away. He held a hand out towards her arm, stopping her from moving.

She spun around, facing him, blue eyes looking up at his. "What do you want me to say?" She shouted, shaking her arm free from his grip, "What do you want from me?" She questioned; her voice cracking. She didn't want to talk, she couldn't.

"_You _left _me_, Jayme! You walked away, you left; losing you once was hard enough. And now you're here again and everything's coming back! Did I really make it that easy for you to walk in and out of my life?" He stated; the volume of his voice matching hers. He didn't care who heard, he was here, he got her to talk; he wasn't finishing this until it was clear, until everything was clear.

"This isn't just about _you_, Becker! I left for _me,_ I had to!"

"You didn't explain it, not enough! And you wouldn't talk to me when you came back! There are so many things that need to be said. Where did you go? Did you ever think about me? Did it hurt? But of course, I can't say any of that, right?"

"Well, I'm sorry me leaving hurt so much, it hurt me too. But you cannot stand there and expect me to talk to you like everything's ok, things have changed!"

"Did you ever even care?" He asked; his voice quieter now. It was as if it took too much energy to even say the words, the words of a question he had to ask, he needed an answer.

"Of course I cared," She stated, her voice trembling, "I cared so much it terrified me. I had to leave, Becker, I had to leave and figure out who I was, you couldn't expect me to stay here and pretend like it was all going to be alright. There are some things you need to work out for yourself, alone, that was one of them. But you can't go around acting like you're the victim, it's not fair, Becker. Trust me, it hurt me too,"

Everything felt inconsequential compared to how he felt, words weren't enough; this wasn't enough. Here he was standing listening to her, hearing her voice tremble, hearing her breath shake. It wasn't right, to see a person so vulnerable, to see her like this, it killed him. "That kiss we had, back in the future," He began, taking a deep breath. If she was going to be honest, the he had to too, "It was unexpected. The thing is, it wasn't that long, and it certainly wasn't the kind of kiss you see in movies these days... But it was wonderful in its own way, and all I can remember about the moment is that when our lips touched, I knew the memory would last forever," He stated, his voice coming out very calm compared to how he felt. There, he had said it, he had told her the truth, the full truth; how he felt about it, about the kiss, about her.

"And now everything's changed, now you have a new life," She stated, wiping a tear away from under her eye, "I've been in relationships before, but none have ever felt as real as every moment I spend with you. But it hurts too much, Becker, I can't stand here and act like nothing's changed. Because everything has, you have a girlfriend, you should try not to mess that up," She told him, her gaze flickering to the floor and back up to his brown eyes. "Is that this talk over, are you happy now?" She whispered, another tear falling down her cheek.

"I don't think there's anything left to say, but happy? That isn't something I'm feeling right now,"

"I'm sorry," She murmured. Each word felt heavy, meaningless, they didn't show the true depth to how either of them felt. It hurt to breathe, to stand here, listening to the beats of their hearts, listening to the silence. A lot had changed over those three years; nothing would ever be the same again.

The anomaly siren came to life, startling the solider and the brunette. They both glanced at each other, it was only for a second, but when their eyes met, both Jayme and Becker knew things were far from over. Things were still left unsaid, feelings still lingered, feelings they couldn't escape.

"Everyone get the EMD's, turn your black-boxes on, we have an anomaly," Matt, the team leader, announced, as the team members all wandered into the room from their various directions. Jess glanced over at Jayme, whatever had gone down between her and Becker had hurt her, had hurt both of them. The field co-ordinator could see it; it was etched on both of their faces. She hadn't realised how strongly they felt about each other, not until that moment, not until she saw their faces, not until now.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Breaking Point

Jess wandered over towards Jayme, standing beside her as Matt informed the team of who would drive with whom, and what everyone would do once they arrived at the anomaly site.

"Are you ok?" She asked the brunette. She kept her voice quiet, making sure the other team members didn't overhear the conversation.

"Getting there, thanks Jess," She responded, smiling at the field co-ordinator. She really did appreciate everything Jess was doing, Jayme knew she was her friend; it was nice having someone there for her. Sometimes just having someone who knew when you didn't want to talk about it all and when you did was a reassuring thing to have in life.

"Everyone ready?" Matt questioned, after he had finished speaking. Various individuals nodded as they headed out towards the exit, EMD's in hand, black-boxes turned on.

Jayme smiled once more at the field co-ordinator before following, keeping a few steps back behind Becker and Sam as they all travelled out into the car park. The weather today was awful, rain bounced off the cold concrete floor; an icy wind attacked their exposed skin. Emily hung back a little, waiting until she was beside Jayme as they headed towards the cars.

"Is everything alright?" She questioned, glancing over at Jayme. Emily was always the best person to be around when it came to comforting someone. She had helped out the team members on more than one occasion. It was because she was so skilled at reading people; she knew how a person felt, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. She was a very caring woman; she always looked out for everyone. It was no wonder that Matt fell in love with her so quickly.

"Everything's ok, a bit strange, but it's alright. I talked to Becker," Jayme stated, her gaze flickering ahead at the soldier for a second.

"It's about time, how did it go?"

"I'm not sure, it was good to finally talk, I guess. But it was hard, really hard. Honestly, it upset me a little,"

"What upset you? What did you two talk about?"

"Everything, and that's kind of the problem. There's nothing simple about our situation, I shouted, he shouted, we admitted things, it was all a mixture of feelings and honesty, it wasn't easy for either of us,"

"It's good that you're talking though, it wasn't exactly healthy to ignore him all that time; it must have been tough. The fact that you told each other how you were feeling is good though, Jayme, I know this sort of thing isn't easy for you, I honestly do,"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make it so easy to talk to you, make it so easy to tell you anything," Jayme responded, her hand lingering on the car door handle as they approached the vehicles.

"It's a gift," Emily stated, smiling, before opening the car and placing herself onto the passenger seat. Matt was already sat in the driver's seat, and Danny was in the back, both were waiting for the two women to reach the car. Becker, Sam, Connor and Kate had made their way over to the other vehicle, and began driving off towards the co-ordinates of the new anomaly. Matt followed, glancing at the two females quickly as he started the car. He knew his fiancé; she had clearly been talking to Jayme about Becker, helping her. He had learned that she was incredibly perceptive when it came to people's behaviour and feelings, he was pretty sure that she'd have made a brilliant counsellor. That was one of the reasons why he loved her, she always knew how to help someone; it was a beautiful talent to have, to be able to comfort someone so easily.

Jayme was in autopilot, she hadn't noticed the building they had parked the cars beside, she hadn't realised the significance. When it came to anomalies, she knew what to do; remain aware when it came to creatures, keep on alert. But she tended to lack in noticing irrelevant details, although the details surrounding her now were the complete opposite of that, they were related to her life in the deepest of ways.

"Jess, where's the anomaly?" Matt questioned, holding his finger up towards the earpiece to check it was working.

"_It's inside the building, you'll have to speak to the staff, get a lockdown. The anomaly is in the dining room, I think, it should be relatively empty around this time, but it will create panic if someone sees it," _Jess informed, leaving Matt to know exactly how to handle the situation.

"I'll get lockdown on the building, Emily, Jayme and Connor you find the anomaly, lock it straight away. Danny, Becker, Sam, Kate, I need you four to check for an incursion, search the building, there are people inside, we need to ensure their safety. Let's go,"

No one questioned his orders, they were necessary for the type of situation they were in. Not even Danny disagreed this time, which did happen sometimes, two team leaders, well one was an ex-team leader, in one team weren't the ideal conditions. Danny was very stubborn, and independent, he usually had his own idea of what would work. Although this time, he knew Matt was right, it was a good thing the two got along well; otherwise it would be chaos.

Connor grabbed the ALD from the back of the vehicle and caught up with Emily and Jayme who had already charged their EMD's and began heading inside the building. They used the back door, the metal clanging against the doorframe as it the door shut behind them. They wandered slowly down the corridor, it seemed to be empty, most likely it was used for employees only. There was only one problem with all of this, with this building they were in. You see, when a person didn't take notice of the familiarities that creeped up on them, you knew it would eventually get to them; the surprise would just increase the longer you waited, the longer you didn't realise where you were, and what that place held.

"_Take the next left and continue through the corridor. There should be a door at the end, and the dining room is through there," _Jess informed through the earpieces, as she watched Connor, Emily and Jayme's black-box signals on the map of the building shown on her screen.

"Got it," Connor replied, altering his direction and turning the corner. They could see the door at the end of the corridor. The walls through the corridors were all painted a simple shade of white, making Connor go slightly dizzy. He hated it when people painted walls white, why couldn't they be colourful, it would be much more fun and full of life.

The trio followed through into the dining room. It was a rather large room, filled with long metal benches and tables. There was a cafeteria at the edge of the room, although it was empty of staff at the moment, since it was after dinnertime. The anomaly was situated in the middle of the room, there didn't seem to be any signs of incursions, yet the team knew that meant nothing, there was still a chance a creature had come through. A small alarm sounded throughout the building, Matt must have initiated lockdown on the building.

"Let's hope everyone's safe now, unless they have wandered off through the building unauthorised, it happens in places like this," Connor stated, as he lifted the ALD and locked the anomaly in front of him. The glass-like shards of energy were sucked into a tight ball, preventing anything from going through, and coming out.

"A place like this?" Jayme questioned, glancing over at the man. What did he mean by that? She didn't like the sound of it.

"You know, mental institution," Connor responded, casually shrugging his shoulders as he spoke.

But those words made Jayme's blood run cold. She didn't speak, as if her voice would no longer work. Her mind fell empty for a moment, Connor's response echoing through it, triggering feelings she refused to feel, triggering memories she had previously ran from. Connor glanced over at her as the room fell silent.

"Jayme, is everything ok?" Emily asked, watching the brunette as she stood there, not moving, not speaking; barely breathing. Her skin had paled, as if she were simply a ghost of the woman standing there only moments ago.

She could feel the beat of her heart; it was the only sound she could hear. The way it echoed through her body made her feel empty, lost. She hadn't realised until now. She hadn't realised the daunting familiarities that had entered her mind as she walked the halls of a building she had long tried to forget. A building she didn't want to remember, a place that terrified her more than anything else she had experienced. Why was it so silent? It never used to be. Usually the crying, the screaming, the incessant rambling broke the silence of this place. She could still remember every feeling she once had; every sight she had once seen; every moment she had lived here.

"Jayme?" Connor questioned, uneasily. It had only been moments since he had told her where they were, yet to her it felt like hours, like she had spent a lifetime here. It was almost as if she had never left. It had been fourteen years, fourteen years since she had last stood in this building. Fourteen years since the white walls stained her mind, fourteen years since she pushed the memory into the back of her mind. Yet she had never forgotten, it had haunted her, the memory turned into a nightmare, ambushing her at every corner, jumping on her when she least expected it to.

"Watch out!" Emily yelled abruptly; her words piercing the eerie silence that had overtook them. Connor jumped back almost instantly, the growl of a creature following the motion. A smilodon skidded past him as he fell into the metal table. Emily shot out of the way, re-charging her EMD as she dodged the creature. Jayme fell back onto the floor, wide eyed. Why couldn't she move, she felt frozen. Fear overtook every inch of her, creeping in through the cracks, through the vulnerability that had already corrupted her. She carried the weight of her past on her mind; it had all collapsed as her gaze flickered around the room. The walls she had built crumbled, the thoughts she had locked out all came rushing back to her. It only took one trigger, one simple trigger to break down everything she had tried to forget. In the end, you can never forget the things that haunted you, you could never erase your past; you had to deal with it, even if it hurt, even if it involved the things you feared most.

"Jayme!" Emily called, anxiously. She needed help. The smilodon was watching her, it was going to pounce, and when it did, she wouldn't be able to outrun it. The EMD had locked, the bullets were stuck; she couldn't get it to work. She was defenceless, with no way out. Her fingers were shaking, she couldn't get the weapon to work, she couldn't get Jayme to move; she couldn't get Connor to wake up. He was unconscious; his head had hit the metal too hard when he dodged the creature attack. The smilodon was only a step away from him. She was lucky it wasn't interested in him at the moment. There would be no way to save him otherwise. "Jayme, what are you doing?" She shouted, her eyes flickering to the brunette who sat against the metal benches, hands etched out across the floor. She didn't know what was wrong with her, she looked terrified, but by what? It hadn't been the creature; she had frozen before the smilodon had emerged. It was after Connor's words, after he told her where they were. Why had it scared her so much? What was she hiding? What had happened to her?

The creature growled once more, letting out a noise that stopped Emily's heart. This couldn't be it, there had to be a way out of this. There was always a way. The claws of the smilodon clicked on the floor, the noise echoing through the room. It crouched down, eyeing the unprotected woman.

"Matt!" She screamed, her voice weakening with fear. She hadn't felt so powerless before, she had never been unarmed when encountering a creature. She shouted for her fiancé, but whether he could hear her, she didn't know. She needed him. She needed help. Her gaze moved back towards the creature, her eyes wide. Every passing second creeped up on her, it was only a matter of time until it happened. Then it did. Then the smilodon pounced.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Damaged

Emily covered her face instinctively, almost as if the block would protect her from harm. She squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to look as the creature closed in on her, claws just fractions away. Something hit her, knocking her to her side painfully. There was no blood, no flesh wound. It wasn't the smilodon that had hit her. Relief flooded her, she hadn't died. A growl shot through her ears, the creature was still there; she wasn't safe yet. She could vaguely hear EMD bullets pulsing through the air, followed by a muffled whimper from the smilodon as it, from what she figured, fell to the floor. Her eyes fluttered open, finding a certain pair of familiar eyes staring into hers, they were a mixture of both blue and green, she loved those eyes. Matt smiled at her, gently lifting himself up and pulling her up with him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his soft Irish accent floating through her ears, a voice that always managed to soothe her.

"Now that you're here," She replied, leaning up and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. He tenderly ran his thumb across her cheek as they pulled away, smiling at his fiancé.

"I'll never leave you again," He whispered, pressing his lips to hers once more, smiling a little as he did so.

"Ok, guys, as cute as you two are, do you mind saving the kisses for the bedroom?" Connor stated, groggily, as he rose from the benches.

Matt laughed; a sound that Emily loved beyond measure. She loved everything about him, he meant the world to her; she could never lose him.

"What exactly happened here?" Danny questioned, wandering further into the room and lowering the EMD. Becker, Sam and Kate followed, arriving just after Danny. His gaze flickered around the place, stopping as he found Jayme, staring into nowhere, a look on her face that he'd never seen before. Fear.

"I'm not sure," Emily admitted, things weren't quite clear yet, she wasn't sure how she had gotten into that position, Connor had been knocked out; and Jayme? She still wasn't sure what had happened with her, why had she frozen?

"Are you ok, Connor?" Kate questioned, as she watched him rub the back of his neck, a slight flicker of pain on his face.

"Yeah, head's just a bit sore," He replied, smiling in appreciation.

"What exactly happened to her?" Matt murmured to Emily, turning his attention to the brunette on the floor.

"I... I'm not positive,"

Becker glanced over at Jayme, only just realising, after Matt's words, that she was here. She didn't look well, her skin was white; her eyes were wide. She hadn't said a word since they'd entered the room, she hadn't moved.

"Jayme?" He questioned, stepping over towards the brunette and crouching beside her. Sam didn't say anything, although from the look she had given Becker as he walked towards Jayme, Connor could guess she was still suspicious of how he felt about the brunette, he wasn't even sure if Becker knew himself.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, glancing at Becker. Her beautiful blue eyes were mixed with so much panic, Becker hadn't thought it possible. He didn't think one person could look so scared; he'd heard the phrase 'frozen with fear' before, but never did he think that could happen; he didn't realise how deep fear could be, not until now.

"Sorry about what?" He questioned, keeping his voice low. He moved his hand to keep his balance, their fingers brushing ever so slightly.

"I nearly got Emily killed, I-I don't know what came over me," She murmured, her voice still shaky. He hated to see her like this, he hated to see her so defenceless.

"Yes you do," He stated. He knew what she felt, he knew she was scared. He just didn't know why and she wouldn't tell him, she didn't want to cause any unnecessary commotion.

"You're right," She murmured, pressing her hands against the floor as she stood up, stumbling slightly, her legs still felt weak, she still felt shaky.

"What happened? You almost got two people killed!" Matt stated, his volume rising as he demanded answers. If he had lost Emily, if he had been only a second later, it would have destroyed him. He couldn't live on without her, she was his everything.

"Leave it, Matt! We'll deal with it when we get back to the ARC," Becker stated; the tone in his voice surprising _himself_, never mind his team members. He knew that Lester would soon yell at her when they got back, she didn't need Matt doing it too, not if he could help it.

.

.

.

"Do you have any idea how badly this could've have ended?" Lester questioned, raising the volume in his voice. He stood up, hands leant against the desk. Jayme sat on the chair in front, silence falling over her. "Well?"

"I know exactly how it could have ended, I'm sorry I froze, I don't know what happened," Jayme responded, looking up at the man as he tried to regain composure.

"If you pull another stunt like that again, I will kill you myself!" He stated, exaggerating the truth ever so slightly. He would definitely keep her away from the ARC if someone was killed because of her, he wouldn't stand for her being around here. She was careless today, and if Emily or Connor had died as a result, there would be no controlling his anger. He deeply cared about his team; he wouldn't want anyone here getting hurt.

"I understand," She commented, glancing behind at Matt, who had since calmed himself, and Becker, who requested to be in the office as Lester spoke to her. He wanted to know what would happen, he had to know if she would tell them anything. She didn't.

"Very well, just don't do it again; off you go," He stated, dismissing her with a wave of his hand as he sat back down at the desk. There was no use yelling anymore, he had made his point perfectly clear.

She nodded in response, before standing up and heading out of the office. Lester really cared about his employees, she knew that, but she couldn't help what had happened. She couldn't help the terror that had come over, the terror that she still felt. She didn't know what she was going to do; she didn't know how to get past this.

"What are you two standing about in here for, off you go, I'm pretty sure there's work to do," Lester added, looking up at the team leader and head of security as they left the office. Matt held a hand out towards Becker, indicating that he wanted to talk to him.

"Do you suddenly think you're team leader now, if I want an answer to why someone nearly got my fiancé killed, I'll get it," Matt informed; his voice firm. When it came to Emily, he didn't care who he was arguing with, right now he didn't care that the soldier was one of his closest friends.

"She didn't need you coming down on her about it; you had to give her a little time to deal with it,"

"She was reckless,"

"She was _scared!"_

"Yeah, Emily told me, after she said the exact same thing you just said. Look, Becker, I'm not going to go easy on anyone who almost gets my team members killed,"

"I get that, but this is different,"

"Because you love her?"

"Because I care about her, and she didn't deserve you yelling at her like that,"

"Just don't do it again, Becker, alright?" He stated, patting the man on the back before wandering down the steps to the main control room and out through a corridor. Becker followed, stopping at the ADD beside Jess.

"Where did Jayme go?" He questioned.

She gave him a look, a look that Becker knew all too well. A look that basically said _'I hope you know what you're doing'._ "She went through there," The field co-ordinator informed, pointing at one of the corridors that led into the security zone.

"Thanks," He murmured before jogging down through the corridor, trying to catch up with Jayme, he needed to find her.

After many detours, he did find her, sitting down on one of the steps inside the armoury; head leant against the metal banister that lead down the stairs. She glanced up as Becker walked through and sat down beside her.

"What happened, Jayme?" He asked her, his voice soft, different compared to his usual tone.

She blinked away the tears forming in her eyes and took a deep breath. "I've been there before," She whispered, looking up at him. Everything had changed; everything was loose, running around her brain, all the memories, all the pain.

"The mental institution? When?"

"Fourteen years ago," She stated, her eyes focusing on the room ahead of her, her gaze floating over the weapons, "I was eight when it all happened. It was just a normal day; I was going to go camping with a friend and her parents in the Forest of Dean, just for a bit of fun, you know." She took another breath, her mind going over the details of that day, of everything that had happened. "I wandered off, I was just a kid, thought it would be fun to go exploring or something. I was by a river, jumping across stepping stones, simple things like that, but then I saw it," She told him, glancing over as a confused expression filled his face.

"Saw what?"

"My first anomaly. I didn't know what it was, of course, just this fluttering ball of light, it was pretty. Things like that always are when you don't know the danger behind them. I walked towards it, and that was when I heard something, something behind me. I had no idea what it was at the time; looking back over it I think it may have been some sort of Gorgonopsid. All I saw back then, though, was a monster. I was scared, I ran, as fast as I could, and before I knew it, it was chasing me, and it was fast. Luckily, there was this tree with those big roots that sort of create a hole in the ground, big enough for an eight year old to climb through. So I did. It tried to claw away at the ground, it tried to get to me, but I was too far away from it. I spent the night under there, I was too scared to move, I didn't know if it had gone, so I stayed there, the whole night,"

"And then?"

"And then they found me, sometime later the next day. Kayla's parents noticed I had disappeared and they had called the police after they couldn't find me. The police found me the next day. I was terrified; I'd spent the whole night alone, in the cold, after being chased by that creature. I was rambling on about monsters and glowing lights, no one believed me; they assumed I'd made it up because I was in shock, or for attention or something. No one believes children after all, not very often. My parents decided I needed a therapist after I kept talking about monsters for a week after the incident, it didn't work. I knew what I'd seen, I wasn't going to forget. After the treatment didn't work, the therapist recommended that they should find more professional help, she gave them the address to that institution; she said there were doctors there who could help me. The thing is, I wasn't crazy, I was just scared, confused,"

"So your parents sent you away to a mental institution?"

"Yeah, and I hated them for it. I didn't understand why they didn't believe me, it only made me feel more alone, more terrified. Everything at the institution frightened me, I was only eight, the people scared me, the doctors scared me; all this talk about there being something wrong with me scared me. I hated it all, the white walls, the small rooms, all the things we had to do there. After two weeks, they told my parents that there had been no change yet. I assumed since the doctors were there to help that they would understand. They didn't. I realised that if I simply stopped talking about monsters and balls of light, that they would let me go. It worked after a week. They claimed I was 'fixed'. Ever since then, I became interested in the anomalies; I had to find out what they were. I looked up the creature online, that's when I became involved in dinosaurs and animals. I worked on the anomalies, when I grew older, I learned more; I started working on why they opened, what they meant, all about how this phenomenon occurred. Seven years later, I was fifteen, and I decided to travel through one. You have to understand by this point my foster parents and I had a shaky relationship, it wasn't them; it was me. They cared about me so much, but I wouldn't forgive them for not believing me, I wouldn't forgive them for sending me away to that place, it had really terrified me. So, I packed up a backpack of food, and first aid, a journal, and I walked through that ball of light. I taught myself how to survive, how to fight. I did come back into the present every so often, when I found an anomaly that led to there, but only for supplies, and later, weapons. I stole a pair of pistols and a knife from this run down shop, and escaped back through the anomalies, better protected. Ever since I was eight I taught myself how to push back the memories, how to stop emotions from affecting me, how to forget. It worked, for a while actually, longer than I expected. I broke down a couple times, but I built the walls back up, I protected myself from my emotions. Until I met you,"

Becker listened; he listened to every detail, locking it inside his mind. Every word she said stayed up there; he would remember her story for the rest of his life. Then she spoke those last four words that remained on his thoughts for longer than everything else. She'd kept her emotions locked away until she had met him.

"You changed everything; you made me feel things I refused to feel for quite a while. It's probably better, right? I see that now, Emily, Jess, they've both told me that it's better that way. Emotions are meant to drive you forward, not stay locked away, otherwise it would kill you; it would break you down from the inside. That's how I felt for a while. I understand it now, I think. Fear is the key, right? You need to break down to realise just how broken you are, to realise just how damaged you are. You made me see the light, all those added emotions led to this moment right here, they shook me down enough so that when fear broke me down completely, I knew how to get back up, I knew how to save myself. You showed me how to live, how to feel, something I'd lost a while ago. I don't think you'll ever quite realise how much you mean to me, Becker, I don't think I'll ever quite realise it either,"

Becker didn't know what to say anymore, he didn't know what there was to say. This was what he wanted, he wanted to know she cared, he wanted to know her past; he wanted to know everything. And he got it. He got everything.

"I don't think I'll ever forget, not really, I don't think anyone ever forgets memories like that, no matter how hard you struggle. Some things never leave your memory I guess, even if you try your hardest to block them out," She stated, glancing over at the soldier.

"You're right, you don't forget moments like that, you don't really forget any kind of memory that changes your life, just like I've never forgotten you," Becker murmured, placing his hand on hers, a simple gesture, yet it seemed to hold so much. "I have something to show you," He added, standing up quickly and heading out of the armoury without another word. How could he forget he had it, it was hers after all.

Jayme followed him, jogging slightly as he marched out of the room. He kept walking, that is until he found his way to his office. He glanced behind, checking she was still there, and unlocked the door, leaving it open for Jayme to wander through after him. He didn't say a word as he moved behind his desk and unlocked one of the drawers. Jayme watched as he pulled a box out from it, and placed it on the desk in front of him.

"Here," He stated, pointing towards the box that lay unopened before the two of them.

"What is it?" She questioned, apprehensively.

"Just open it,"

She did as he told her; she wandered over to the desk and lifted the lid of the box, placing it on the desk beside it. She didn't say anything, truth was she was speechless. She pulled the familiar binding of the journal she once held onto with her heart out of the box, her fingers tracing over the cover. It was exactly how she had left it.

"How do you have this, I thought it was destroyed in New Dawn?"

"After we had dealt with the anomaly at the train station, the one you had left through; I went back to New Dawn, well, what was left of it. I don't know why, I guess I just felt like I had to. Anyway, I found this near the wreckage, you must have dropped it at some point, but it must have been outside of the building, because it was still in good condition. I didn't know what it was at first, but after reading the first page, I knew,"

"And you kept it? After three years?"

"I guess I kind of grew obsessed with it. I didn't read it though, apart from that first page, I didn't think I should. It was your personal thoughts, but I held onto it, every night. Probably sounds a lot creepier than it actually was, it just reminded me of you, for obvious reasons. I couldn't get rid of it, it would feel like losing you all over again,"

"And you kept my pistols and lucky knife," She stated, laughing slightly as she found the two guns and knife in the bottom of the box. These three things were the only things she had always held onto; the three things that remained a constant in her life as she travelled through the anomalies.

"Yeah, I found them a couple days later in the ARC,"

"I can't believe you kept all of this. Shame about the matrix though,"

"The matrix?"

"This technology thing, all about predicting anomalies, not sure how it worked; Philip stole it, it went down with him,"

"Sorry I couldn't save that too,"

"Don't worry, I wasn't that attached. You kept the most important things in my life, you didn't get rid of them, you have no idea how much that means to me,"

Becker smiled at her, he didn't say the words he wanted to say, they were probably better left unsaid. _'You have no idea how much you mean to me.'_ It was the raw truth, but he couldn't say it, not right now. There were still too many complications, they weren't together, things had changed, she was right, it was different now.

They both looked up as someone knocked lightly on the open office door. Jess's gaze flickered between the two, suspicion lingering in her eyes. They were talking, again. Things might actually be starting to work out for them; they might have really started to clear things up. But she did really want to know what they had said, she couldn't help it, she was curious.

"Jayme, can I have a word?" The field co-ordinator asked, smiling at the brunette and the soldier.

"Er, yeah, sure," She responded, glancing over at Becker as he re-locked the draw, placing the key in his pocket.

"You can have them back, now," He stated, gesturing towards the journal, the knife and the pistols, "They are yours, after all," He added, smiling at her.

"Thanks," She replied, placing everything back into the box and following Jess out of the office. She glanced back at him, just for a moment. That talk had felt good, admitting everything felt good, it felt right. It was what she was supposed to do, she was just happy she understood that now, hiding everything wasn't good for anyone; it would eat you alive if you let it. Well, she had put a stop to that now; she had opened up, only to one person, but the only person who truly mattered. "What's up, Jess?" She questioned, smiling at her friend.

"I'm organising this whole night out, just the girls of the ARC. It's for Abby, she hasn't gotten out since the baby, she's in need of a good drink and night out, I mean seriously it's been like ten months," Jess stated, laughing slightly, "Want to come?" 


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Stolen Kisses

Jess wandered through the apartment, fixing her earrings in one of the mirrors on the wall as she did so. She stood proudly, grinning foolishly at her reflection. She loved dressing up and going out, it was one of her favourite things. It was great to loosen off, after all, the work they did came with a lot of stress. She had worn one of her new dresses that she bought when shopping for Jayme's clothes with Emily; and it was soon becoming her favourite. The deep purple colour, the folded patterns of fabric at the top, it was strapless, and beautiful. Jess loved it. And of course, the shoes to match, purple once again, with a silver lining around the sides of it. Yes, she really did love a good night out. And with Abby back, it was going to be even better.

"Jayme, are you ready?" She questioned, glancing over at the door to her room.

"Yeah," She responded, wandering out of the bedroom, the door clicking softly shut behind her, "I don't think I feel comfortable, it's definitely been a while since I've worn heels, or a dress," She stated, straightening the outfit out and looking up at her roommate.

"What are you talking about? You look fantastic, you should wear dresses more often, you have a great figure,"

"Thanks, try living in the past for seven years, and the future, it keeps you fit,"

"I'll remember that," Jess added, smiling brightly at the brunette, "If Becker could see you now..."

"Don't go there, Jess,"

"Too soon?"

"It's only been two days since we talked, and we talked twice so it was double the stress, and I haven't really talked to him since, so yeah, a little too soon,"

"Yeah, but it was good to talk, right? And you've talked a little since then, at least you two are friendly now, rather than everyone becoming awkward when they stand near you guys,"

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, you're friends with Sam, you shouldn't be talking like that about him,"

"I'm also friends with you, and I was only telling the truth, Becker would love that dress on you. Actually I think he would prefer it better on his bedroom flo-"

"Ok, that's enough, Jess. You haven't even had a drink down you yet," Jayme interjected, stopping Jess mid-speech, and smiling at her. She had to admit, the field co-ordinator did make her laugh, and everything had been easier since she had talked with Becker, things were clearer. She'd realised certain things that would help her, that would stop the confusion in her mind. It was one step at a time, but Jess had made the whole situation simpler, she really was there for her.

"The taxi's coming about, now, actually," Jess stated, glancing down at the phone in her hand. "Let's go," She added; her voice now giddy with excitement. She pushed Jayme out of the front door, locking it behind her and looked proudly at her work. Black dress, simple, but lovely against Jayme's brown hair and blue eyes, the fabric wrapped around her, and it had thin straps at the top. Black high heels, a lace fabric to make the outfit a little bit different, not too plain. Jayme had cut her hair yesterday, changing it back into a fringe and choppy layers, the same hairstyle she wore when Jess had first met her; it really suited her. Overall, Jess was glad Jayme had agreed to come out with her, she enjoyed her company anyway, and it was fun to experiment with the dresses she had bought her when shopping with Emily just over two weeks ago. And it would be Jayme's first time seeing Abby since she had left three years back, although Abby didn't trust her back then, she was hoping things would be fine between them now, she saw no reason against it; there was just a little doubt in her mind. The only other problem would be Sam, the two weren't the best of friends, Sam was uncertain of her due to her past with Becker, and Jayme didn't like Sam's distrusting attitude towards her. Jess knew Sam was a cool person, she _was _friends with the soldier after all, she was hoping a change of atmosphere might give them a chance to see each other in a different light, well, hopefully. There was no problem with Emily or Kate though, thankfully. Emily and Jayme liked each other, everyone liked Emily anyway; she was an incredibly easy going person. Jayme hadn't really spoken to Kate much, but Jess knew they'd get along, Kate was a really sweet person; there'd be no reason for any dislike.

The taxi pulled up outside the club that they were meeting at. Both Jess and Jayme slid out of the car, lingering by the curb as Jess paid the driver. They walked on through into the building, soon spotting Emily and Abby in one of the booths.

"Abby, how are you?" Jess questioned, hugging the blonde as they approached the table.

"Great, it's so good to get out. And Connor's looking after the baby tonight, bless him," Abby responded, smiling at both the field co-ordinator and Jayme.

"Cute, how is little Sarah Temple?" Jess asked, sitting down beside her and Jayme.

"Adorable, I love her; she's getting bigger everyday though. I feel like she'll be off to college in just a few months if I have to keep buying new clothes to fit her," Abby stated, smiling. "So, Jayme, how does it feel to be back? In the present, I mean,"

"It's good now, I guess. Things weren't brilliant before, but they're getting there," Jayme replied, answering the question truthfully.

"Yeah, Nick told us that he's happy you're back. He was really worried about you when you left, but it's all good now, yeah?"

"Yeah, it is,"

"Hey," A voice greeted as they approached the booth. It was Kate, smiling at the four girls as she and Sam joined them, sitting down beside Emily.

"Emily, you're not drinking?" Sam questioned, glancing over at the bottle of water in front of her as everyone else's drinks were set on the table by a waitress.

"I can't," Emily responded; her gaze flickering to the floor for a moment and back up, watching as all heads turned her way.

"I didn't notice that before," Abby added, now aware of the water her close friend was drinking.

"Why can't you drink?" Kate asked, looking curiously at the brunette woman beside her.

Emily took a deep breath, watching the five girls as they waited for an answer to the question, "I didn't know how to tell you guys, and I haven't told Matt yet so please don't bring it up to anyone. I can't drink because I'm-I'm pregnant," She stated, breaking into a smile, "Me and Matt have been trying for a while now, and it worked, I'm having a baby,"

"Emily, that's amazing," Jess responded, squeezing her hand gently across the table.

"See? Now we have another reason to celebrate, eh?" Abby announced, smiling at the brunette, and raising her glass of wine, "Congratulations Emily," She added, leading others to raise their glass up in the air in agreement. They all clinked, and took a sip of whatever each was drinking before setting the glasses back down onto the table.

Jayme made her way to the bar, later into the night, and ordered the various drinks for the girls as they danced away, everyone gradually becoming more drunk as the night went on. Sam wandered over to join her, leaning against the bar as Jayme turned her head towards her.

"Everything ok?" Jayme questioned, raising an eyebrow at the soldier. They had barely spoken one word to each other all night, everyone had felt the tension between them, until the alcohol started to take effect; it made everyone a lot more carefree, less observant. Jayme was glad for that.

"You and Becker; what's the story there?"

"There isn't one,"

"Don't lie to me, Connor told me everything, and personally I'm sick of you two hiding it all, I deserve to know,"

"Sam, listen closely, Becker and me? Doesn't exist, there's nothing there anymore, you're with him, he cares about you, just leave at that, ok?"

"I will find out if there's anything going on," She warned, before wandering back over to the group, a smile now on her face as she approached them, as if nothing had just happened, as if the conversation didn't exist.

"I give up," Jayme murmured to herself, picking up the drinks that the bartender had laid in front of her. She took them over to their table, glancing over at the girls as they danced and talked amongst each other. Jess made her way over to her, a look of concern on her face.

"Are you alright?"

"I think I'm going to leave," Jayme stated, sending a weak smile towards the field co-ordinator.

"Because of Sam?"

"Something like that, look, we just aren't friends; we can't go on a night out with each other and act like there isn't a problem between us. And I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable, I'm just not in the mood anymore,"

"What did she say to you?"

"Nothing, nothing that mattered. It's just been a long day, I'm tired. I'll see you later, all right?"

"If you're sure?"

"I am, you stay, have fun, I'm completely fine," Jayme stated, giving Jess a quick hug before heading towards the exit of the building and outside. The cold air hit her quickly; at least it wasn't raining though. She wandered out towards the curb, soon finding a spare taxi parked outside; waiting for someone who needed a ride home. She told him the address, remembering it as best as she could, it had been just over two weeks since she'd moved in with Jess, and things were still a little hazy. The alcohol didn't help.

"Here you are, that'll be £8.50," The driver stated, holding out his hand. She fished through the purse, finding her last ten pounds and passing it to him.

"Keep the change," She added, it would make a decent tip for him. She stood out into the frosty air, watching as the taxi drove away. She eyed the neighbourhood she was stood in, it didn't look completely familiar. She did get the address right, right? She wandered over and read the street name on the buildings, until it dawned on her. That wasn't the right name; at least she didn't think so. She had thought it was right when she'd told the driver, now she wasn't so sure. "Damn," She muttered to herself, wrapping her arms around her as she tried to warm up. This wasn't good, she had no idea where she was, and she certainly wasn't in the right state to figure it out completely. She began walking down the pavement, glancing around for any recognition as she went.

She didn't know how long she had walked, or how far she had went, but Jayme had not passed Jess' apartment building once. She was becoming desperate, she really didn't want to spend the night with nowhere to go, although she had spent many nights living outside, living in the wild, seven years of it.

"Jayme?" A voice questioned, their footsteps coming to a halt as the person recognised the face in front of them. "What are you doing out here?" Becker asked, "You must be freezing," He added, looking her up and down and passing a jacket towards her. She slipped it on, the warmth of his skin still lingering beneath the fabric.

"What are _you_ doing out here?" She questioned, steadying herself against a lamppost as she spoke.

"Just a night run, couldn't sleep," He stated.

"Do that often?"

"More often than you'd think. So back to my question, you're out here because?"

"I was out with Jess, and Abby, and everyone, decided to leave, got the address wrong,"

"Come on," He responded, placing a hand on her arm as he guided her down the road.

"Where are you going?" She asked, glancing over at him as they wandered through the dim light.

"My apartment, I can't exactly leave you out here. I'll sleep on the couch," He stated, smiling at her gently in the moonlight. He walked her back to the apartment building not far from where they were. He hadn't ran far, he must have only started when he'd run into her.

Becker unlocked the apartment door with a swift turn of the key and ventured inside. He held it open as Jayme wandered in, wobbling slightly from the alcohol affect. She placed her heels on the floor, the soft click of the door closing sounded behind her. She straightened herself back up, her head taking a slight spin. Hands grasped her arms as the soldier steadied her, careful not to let her fall. It all felt so familiar. Those three years ago when he had held onto her with a strong grip, making sure she didn't collapse from dehydration. Now it was the opposite, she'd had way too much to drink. She hadn't realised how much she had actually drunk before, it mustn't have completely sunk in until now; she was going to kill Jess in the morning. His arms remained in contact, his hold not loosening. Warm brown eyes gazed into hers, causing her to forget everything. She didn't want to remember, she just wanted to be here, in his arms, they way she'd dreamt so many times before. Becker kept watching her, his mind being hypnotised by the soft blue eyes that looked up at him. The feeling of loving her and being loved by her welled up in him, and he could taste the adrenaline in the back of his throat, and maybe it wasn't over, maybe he could stay like this, maybe he could stay holding her. There wasn't a day that had gone by where he hadn't thought about her, thought about what could have happened if she had stayed.

"Can I..." He stopped; his jaw flexing. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered into the silence.

She didn't answer; he didn't wait for her to. His hands caught her gently behind the neck as he pressed his mouth to hers. At first it was almost as if he hadn't wanted to kiss her. His mouth was hard on hers, unyielding; then he put both arms around her and pulled her against him. His lips softened. She could feel the rapid beat of his heart, its effect still soothing her like it had done three years ago. She wound her hands into his hair, the silky strands curling themselves around her fingers. Her heart was hammering, sending a rushing sound into her ears, like beating wings. Everything left him, all of his worries, all of his doubts, all of his regret, it all melted down to one single thing; he was here, with Jayme. The future that they had once encountered three years ago defined their entire relationship; it was the moment he learned to trust her, to care for her, to begin everything he now felt for her. It all became clear now; all the feelings came rushing to him, hitting him harder than it had when he had first laid eyes on her after her return. She knew his weaknesses, the way he acted in situations; they had once trusted each other with their lives; why did that have to change? Why couldn't he forget all that for one night? Why couldn't he lose himself in her for one more moment? He didn't think it was just simple care he felt for the girl, not anymore. Although none of it happened at first, it didn't happen while she was here, it happened after she had left, during those three years she was gone. That's when he realised; when he arranged the feelings he felt for her in his head, although it still managed to drive him crazy. Yet every thought he felt for her strengthened the fall, strengthened what he now felt for her. He couldn't be positive, but it all felt like love. Everything he felt for her, it was definitely the strongest, most real feeling he had ever felt for a woman, a feeling he was sure he could never feel again towards anyone. It was her, it was all her, she caught his eye the moment he had first met her, and she continued to do so now, she was all he could ever think about, every day, every night. The feel of her overwhelmed him, ceasing any clear thinking he could once have. All he wanted, right at this moment, was her, just her, the feel of her lips, the feel of her skin, the way she warmed him whenever they were near. It was a feeling he would happily experience all night. He pulled her gently on into his bedroom, his hands falling down onto her lower back, guiding her through the door, and kicking it shut gently behind them. And he would.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: The Naked Truth

The soft sound of birdsong played outside the open window of the room. Jayme shifted in bed, stretching her arms out above her as she awoke. Holding the covers to her chest, she slid up, resting her head against the headboard. Her legs followed, folding beneath her as she sat against the wall. The room was still dark, a dim crack of light peeking through the closed curtains. Except, this wasn't the usual room she woke up in; this wasn't Jess' spare room. What had happened last night? She ran a hand through her hair, trying to soothe the dull throbbing coming from her head. She glanced around at the room, trying to put the pieces together in her mind. Everything came rushing back to her as her eyes rested upon a familiar soldier asleep beside her, bare chest rising and falling with every breath he took. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering all the events from last night, she'd gone out with Jess, she'd left, she could remember being in a taxi, and what happened after that? She'd run into Becker, she could recall seeing him in the street, he took her back here. Then what? Well that part was pretty obvious, lying in bed, no clothes, next to him. But how did they get to that part? She ran her hands over her face, this wasn't good. Why did she have to be so weak around him? Why did she have to do _this?_ If things weren't complicated before, they definitely were now. She had to leave, preferably before he woke up. That was a conversation she didn't want to have at this moment in time, not so soon after it all. She slid out of the warm bed, exposing herself to the chill air she was surrounded in and shivered.

"At least I know where my clothes are," She murmured, her gaze flickering over to the clothes that lay on the floor, all scrunched up and spread out across the ground. "Must've been quite a night," She whispered, smiling slightly to herself before finding all of the necessary clothing she needed. It didn't take long to get dressed, and before she knew it, she was slowly pulling the door to the bedroom open and sliding out through it, taking one last look at the sleeping Captain.

"Sam, want some breakf- You're not Sam?"

Jayme looked up instantly as the voice spoke, glancing into the kitchen of the apartment where a man stood, aged somewhere around his late twenties. He watched the brunette, confused, she'd appeared out of Becker's room, he'd assumed his roommate had spent the night with his girlfriend; apparently he couldn't be more wrong.

"Who are you?" Jayme questioned, her bare feet moving lightly through the room.

"Name's Zach, Becker's roommate, who the hell are you?" The man questioned, staring at her with a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He seemed to be around the same height as Jayme, and he had a slight muscular build to him, just a bit smaller than Becker. His hair was shaven although not recently; Jayme could tell that he was a brunette, thanks to the small growing hairs that protruded from his head.

"Jayme, I work with him," She responded.

"Wait a minute, are you _that_ girl?" He questioned, pointing a spatula he was using to cook breakfast at her as the thoughts in his mind came together.

"What girl?" Jayme asked, watching the man uneasily, it probably wasn't a good thing that he had seen her.

"The girl who left him, it was _ages _ago, but I remember the name. He told me a lot about you, but why are you _here_?"

"I, er, I, ran into him last night,"

"Well I knew Becker got around, but sleeping with you while having a girlfriend, I've never known him to do that,"

"Becker gets around?" Jayme questioned, biting away the smile on her lips, she was pretty sure none of the ARC team members had seen that side of him; he always seemed so reserved at work, professional.

"Oh yeah, I mean not so much now, he's grown up a bit, but I've known him ever since we were in school, he always got the girls, he's never cheated before though, not that I've heard of anyway,"

"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that part out,"

"Not surprised though, he talked about you a lot, couple years ago though. He was really into you,"

"No excuse though, right?"

"Guess not, so when did you come back into his life?"

"Couple weeks ago,"

"Sounds about right, stopped seeing Sam around here as much about two weeks ago, they are still together, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they're together," Jayme murmured, a flood of guilt washing over her. She had helped Becker cheat on his girlfriend, she hadn't really realised how serious that was until now. What were they going to do? What was Becker going to do? Was he going to tell Sam? How would he even manage to do that? None of this was going to be easy. "Tell Becker, I don't know, just don't tell him anything, I guess I'll just have to figure it out later. But I need to get to work, and I really don't want to be here when he wakes up so, see you around Zach,"

"Yeah, you too," Zach stated, waving at her with the spatula before returning to the breakfast he was cooking over the oven. Jayme smiled before picking up the heels by the door and leaving. Once she had wandered out onto the street in the daylight, she soon figured out where she was. It wasn't that far away from Jess' apartment, although she would be late for work at the ARC, she was hoping it wouldn't matter that much, there would be plenty of staff there in case an anomaly opened, she wouldn't be needed.

After stopping by the apartment, having a quick shower, and changing her clothes, she called a taxi to take her to the ARC. It wasn't far, so it didn't cost much, thankfully, but she was nearly two hours late by the time she wandered through into the main control room. Jess glanced up as footsteps approached her, shooting up from the chair quickly and hugging the brunette before she even had a chance to speak.

"Where have you been?" Jess questioned, after pulling out of the hug, "I couldn't find you, your bed didn't look like it had been slept in; you didn't show up at the ARC, I hadn't seen you since last night!" Jess exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I'm sorry, Jess, I didn't mean to make you worried," Jayme stated, wandering over to the ADD behind her and tracing the monitors with her finger.

"It's fine, but where were you?" Jess asked, her words rushing out so quickly, Jayme wasn't sure she even understood it.

"Jess, I did a _really_ stupid thing last night," Jayme murmured, sitting down on the chair beside her and covering her face with her hands, as if it would erase everything she had done, and everything she now felt.

"Jayme..." Jess began; her voice on the edge of apprehension.

"I, er, I kind of, sort of, I slept with Becker," The brunette stated, biting her lip nervously as she looked up at the field co-ordinator.

"Oh," Jess responded, not knowing what to say, "Jayme," She began; watching her uneasily, "What happened?"

"I got the address wrong, when I tried to get home. So I was wandering the streets, I didn't know where I was, and I sort of ran into him. He took me to his apartment, said he would sleep on the couch, except, well, let's just say no one slept on the couch. Actually no one slept much," She explained, laughing slightly, yet immediately shutting up the moment the sound came out of her mouth, this _really_ wasn't the time for that, "Jess, what am I supposed to do? I mean he's with Sam, how could I be so stupid?"

"It wasn't your fault, you were drunk, and you and Becker, it's kind of a complicated situation; you can't blame yourself,"

"Jess, that isn't an excuse. He cheated on Sam, with me. Look, I know how it feels to be cheated on, it really hurts, and you end up hating the girl who they did it with. How can I be ok with the fact that I've gone and done that, I've caused the exact same pain that I've felt before,"

"Jayme, everyone makes mistakes, sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it doesn't mean we're evil or bad people, and it certainly doesn't mean that we cannot be trusted afterwards,"

"I don't know what to do,"

"Talk to Becker, it's the only thing you can do, he did this too, and he wasn't drunk. You both need to work it out together,"

"You're right, why are you always right?" She questioned, smiling at the field co-ordinator and standing up.

"Just out of curiosity, who cheated on you?" Jess asked, stopping Jayme before she walked away.

"His name was Jason, I was fourteen,"

"But you're over it now?"

"Of course, it was years ago,"

"See, Sam will get over it too, things like this happen all of the time. It's not the cleverest thing to do, but no one should be judged for the rest of their life based on one mistake, things change, people grow,"

"Thanks Jess,"

"Don't worry about it,"

Jayme smiled at her before heading off in the direction of the security zone; Becker was probably in his office, or the armoury. It didn't matter either way; the walk would give her some time to think about what they would say.

Becker wandered through corridor, on his way to Connor's office. He really needed to speak to him; it had taken him about two hours to decide on whether he should talk about it at all. He hadn't even seen Jayme once during that time. He could remember everything of last night, every touch, word, everything he had felt; all the passion, all the heat, simply having her in his arms again. He wouldn't trade that memory for the world. The only problem was would Connor understand it when he explained it all? After all, he was dating Sam, god, he hadn't even thought about her properly since now. What was he going to do about her? There was nothing there anymore, not since Jayme came back, not since he had stopped trying to convince himself that his feelings for Jayme weren't important. When he thought about her, looking into those blue eyes, looking at her beautiful face, he couldn't help but smile, knowing that somehow, she completed him. He just hoped Connor would understand, he should, all of those feelings are probably how he feels about Abby, but with those two, there hadn't been another woman, there hadn't been Sam.

"Connor?" The soldier called, letting the door to his office fall open in front of him.

Connor looked up; the usual big brown eyes staring at him, wondering what had brought Becker to his door. At times, it didn't feel like Connor was a year older than him, Connor always seemed like he should be barely twenty, not thirty, he always had a young side to him.

"What's up, mate?" Connor questioned, watching the Captain as he made his way into the office.

"I did something stupid last night, well I guess it depends on how you look at it, I don't really regret it, but it wasn't the cleverest decision I've made, well, not necessarily, but from certain points of view..."

"Just tell me, action man," Connor responded, a foolish grin falling onto his face.

"I cheated on Sam,"

"With Jayme?" He asked, his tone calm, surprising the soldier slightly.

"Yeah," Becker replied, sitting down on the chair on the other side of the desk, "I slept with her,"

"It's not like any of us didn't see that coming," Connor stated, sending him a bit of a sympathetic smile, "Does Sam know?"

"Not yet, but I have to tell her, right?"

"Yeah, you do,"

"But what do I say? How do I tell her? What am I supposed to do? What if she doesn't take it well? Connor?" He spoke so many questions that he couldn't even keep track of them all; he hadn't ever felt this useless. He knew he could tell Connor anything, that's what they did, go to each other for advice, but it was usually the other way round, Becker very rarely came for advice himself.

"Ok, Becker, breathe. Stop thinking too much, it's all right to not know all the answers, you know?"

"Who should I talk to first, Sam or Jayme?"

"Jayme, definitely Jayme, she's probably feeling the exact same as you, she needs answers too. Talk to Sam after because she doesn't know anything right now so it's ok to postpone that a little, but not too long,"

"Right," Becker responded, before standing up and heading towards the door, all of that did make a lot of sense, why hadn't he thought of it, "And Connor? Thanks," He added and resumed his walk out from the office. Now he had to find Jayme, Connor was right, they both needed to talk.

Emily paced nervously outside the office of the team leader, of Matt Anderson, of her fiancé. How long had she been here? It had to have been twenty minutes or so. She didn't know what to do; the nerves were building up inside of her. The longer she waited, the harder it was convincing herself to walk in and tell him everything. Another minute passed, as slow as every other minute had gone by. Emily rubbed her hands together, glancing uneasily at the door, again. She rested her hand on her stomach, somewhere inside of there, was their baby, hers and Matt's. She had found out a week ago, yet she didn't know how to tell him. She had told the girls, they found out last night, but how was she meant to tell Matt. She was afraid he wouldn't be happy, it was what they wanted, they'd been trying for months; they were both terrified that being from the past and the future would have messed up a conception. But here she was, pregnant. Yet she couldn't help the feeling that creeped up on her, what if he had changed his mind; what if after finding out she was pregnant, he realised that he wasn't ready for being a father? She turned around swiftly, heading back down the corridor and away from the office; too many thoughts were clouding her judgement right now.

"Emily?" The sound of his familiar Irish voice filled the corridor. She spun back around, finding Matt halfway through the door. "Were you outside of the door, just before?"

She had to tell him, he was here now, there was no backing out. She had to be brave, of course Matt would be happy, he had to be, right? He would make a great father. "Matt, I need to tell you something," She stated, stepping back towards her fiancé, linking her hands with his, their fingers fitting together perfectly.

"What is it?" He asked, watching her curiously, "Is everything alright?" He questioned, a slight panic hitting his tone.

"I'm pregnant," She announced, not finding any other way of saying it, of telling him.

"What?" He gasped, dropping her hands in shock. He scooped them back up almost instantly after seeing the flicker of panic on her face, for a moment, she thought he wasn't happy. "Emily, we're going to be parents?"

"Yes," She admitted, her eyes watering slightly, yes there were. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, not being able to keep the smile from his face. They were going to be parents, they were having a child. They were going to be a family. He pressed his lips to hers, both still smiling at each other. He kept his arms around her, not wanting to let go. She broke the kiss, looking at him lovingly, her warm brown eyes gazing into his.

"You're going to make an amazing mother," Matt told her, wiping the tear from her cheek away gently with his thumb. She smiled at him, laughing slightly as more tears fell down her face, she had never been as happy as she was today, everything was falling into place.

"You're going to be an amazing father," She stated, kissing his lips once more, this time not breaking away. The couple were overwhelmed with joy; they were having a child, it meant more to them than anything else that had happened in their life. This child _would_ be their life.

Jayme leant against the office door, waiting for Becker to arrive. She knew he would. She also knew they had to talk. That's what would help clear the situation, talking. They had certain things they needed to straighten out; actually there were a lot of things needed to be straightened out. It wasn't like before; they didn't just have to talk about feelings, now they had done something that would change everything. They had slept together.

"Becker, we need to talk," She announced as she saw the familiar face of the soldier turn the corner of the corridor towards her.

"I know," He stated; taking a deep breath. They really did need to talk. Becker opened the door behind her and the two wandered into the office without another word. The atmosphere was tense, neither knew what the other was thinking, neither knew what would happen next.

"Zach told me he saw you," Becker informed, after a moments silence.

"Yeah, he was there when I left, I didn't know you had a roommate," She responded, stating a fact that was completely irrelevant to what they needed to talk about it, the problem was she wasn't sure what to say.

"He, er, he said he was confused, I'm with Sam, and he saw you leave the room, it led to a lot of questions for him,"

"I know, Becker, which is exactly what we need to talk about. We didn't just kiss, it wasn't some simple slip up; we slept together. And you're with Sam; you see the whole confusing part? I mean what did that night even mean to you? Was it just some way of fulfilling your needs, did you feel lonely, were things too stressful for you? This could screw up everything, you and Sam, you and me, everything,"

"Is that what you think it was for me? Just a bit of fun? Jayme, _that_ night was perfect for _me_. You've turned my world upside down. I'm falling for you, and it scares the shit out of me. I know that now, I've tried to deny it, all my attempts in thinking you meant nothing to me, I was just lying to myself, you mean more to me than anyone else in this world,"

"Becker, it was a mistake,"

"Don't say that," The slight tremor in his otherwise calm voice broke her heart, everything was a blur now; sense was slowly ceasing to exist. "Just don't," He whispered through clenched teeth. "This was not a mistake. It's the most honest thing I've ever done, admitting everything I felt for you was the most real moment of my life. Don't you dare regret this," He murmured, placing his hand on her cheek and rubbing away a tear under her eye. Just his touch clouded every judgement she had, she couldn't think straight when she was around him, it didn't make things easier.

"Becker, you're with Sam," She stated, placing her hand on his and lifting it away from her cheek, leaving it on the desk beside them.

"And _that _was the mistake," He responded.

"I don't know if I can do this," She whispered, shaking her head at him.

"Yes you can, you know why? Because I can remember back three years ago, one day during the future when we woke up in that place, the underground bunker, I can remember looking at you and realising that somehow the world seemed to vanish whenever I was with you. Jayme, I'm not usually like this, I don't fall this hard, I don't ever talk like this, feel like this, except when I'm with you, I don't understand it, but there is no way that I am walking out of here and giving up on you so easily,"

"Becker," She murmured, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment, "You can't jump out of one relationship into another. Things like that never work," She stated, trying to finally make sense of it all. That was the difference though, she had closed her eyes. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see; you have to believe what you feel. She couldn't step into something that had just broken down, she couldn't be weak; she couldn't be with him when he wasn't even out of his previous relationship. She had to trust that, even when she felt this lost in the dark, even when she was falling. "We're not ready yet, Becker, you have to face that,"

"I told you once, Jayme, I'm not giving up. I'll wait for you. You might be right, you might know what you're doing right now, and it might be for the best. But in the end, I'm not going to just walk away; I'm not the kind of person who just gives up on things, especially when they're this important,"

"I don't recall ever telling you to give up," She stated, smiling at the soldier, "We just can't do this right now, not moments after it had happened, give yourself some time, let things fall into place themselves, don't force it," She told him. "But I do have to go," She admitted, glancing up at him once more before walking straight past him and out of the door. She had to be strong; she couldn't give in; not when she knew she was doing the right thing. Emotions _were_ supposed to drive you, but sometimes you had to know when they were heading into disaster, so you could pull the brakes and let things sort themselves out; it would only work with a little time.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Landslide

Nick Cutter pulled the car to a stop, parking in the car park beside the cafe that he would be meeting Abby and Connor. It was a Sunday morning and the weather had brightened for their day together, there were few clouds in the sky and the sun was beaming down on the ground. A slight chilly breeze disrupted the air every so often, but not often enough to spoil the day. The professor made his way down to the building, soon finding Abby and Connor sitting at one of the tables outside, heads looking over a white and gold pram. A tiny face came into view as he approached the table; a head of dark brown hair just like her father's and blue eyes just like her mother.

"Cutter, how are you?" Abby greeted, standing up and hugging the man before he sat down to join them.

"I'm good, how are you two, handling parenthood well?"

"We manage," Connor replied, only tearing his eyes away for a second from the baby girl that lay in the pram between them. "Does little Sarah want to see her godfather, yes, _yes_, I think she does," Connor stated, grinning foolishly at the child who giggled at her father. He carefully lifted his hands into the pram and scooped the baby up, resting her head against his chest. Without taking his eyes off her, he passed Sarah Temple over to Nick, who smiled as the child lay in his arms.

"She really loves you," Abby announced, smiling brightly at the sight, "I swear if she could talk right now, you would be all she talked about,"

"It's true, she never smiles like that for anyone else," Connor added, looking over at the baby in Nick's arms, a cute little smile plastered over her face. Connor interlocked his fingers with Abby's, holding her hand gently under the table. Whenever he held her hand, it made him feel safe, like nothing in the world could make him feel more special than that simple but beautiful gesture.

After a few moments, Nick handed the baby back to Abby, smiling as the new mother held her child close to her, loving her baby with everything she had. Connor released her hand so she could take the child back into her arms, but she sent him a warm smile, just to make sure he didn't feel unwanted in that moment in time. Connor could never feel such a thing when he was with Abby though, it was like his whole universe stopped, and for every second he was with her, their hearts moulded into one. That feeling, was the best feeling in the world, he was never scared when he was with his wife, never alone, she was his safe place to land, and he was hers; their world simply revolved around each other, their love growing beyond measure.

"How's Jayme?" Nick questioned, he hadn't seen his daughter in a couple days; he wanted to make sure she was alright. He couldn't help the daunting feeling that she would leave again, like she would disappear through time without a single word of goodbye. Not that he held it against her, the fact that she was back meant everything. Having his daughter, his family, back with him was the greatest feeling in the world.

"She's fine, she's doing a lot better than when she came back, she's getting into a normal routine, a normal life, as normal as you can be when you work with balls of light that spit dinosaurs out, anyway," Connor informed, glancing over at Nick for a second and back to the child in Abby's arms. Luckily, Nick knew it wasn't him being rude, Connor wasn't a rude person, but that child was his world, he loved her so much that he could barely keep his eyes from her.

"And everyone at the ARC?"

"Emily and Matt are doing great, Emily's actually pregnant; don't tell her I told you. She has told Matt, she told me about it yesterday after it happened, but they haven't announced it officially yet, you know, as a couple," Abby stated, smiling as she remembered an overjoyed Emily telling her that Matt was incredibly happy over the news. The blonde hadn't doubted for a moment that he wouldn't be, but she knew all too well how nervous it felt to tell your partner that they're going to be a father. "Jess is perfectly fine, nothing much has changed in her life right now, Kate has started dating this guy but she refuses to let me meet him until she knows it's all good, I understand, but I _am_ dying to meet him still,"

"How are Sam and Becker doing?" Nick asked, casually, taking a drink from the coffee on the table.

"Don't think it'll last long, you know with the whole Becker sleeping with Jay- Ow!" Connor exclaimed, leaning down suddenly and rubbing the bruise on his leg where Abby had kicked him, "What was that for?" He questioned, looking at Abby, his big brown eyes full of naivety and innocence.

Abby stared at him, completely baffled as to how that wasn't an obvious enough hint to him shutting up. He had only just told her last night what had happened between Becker and Jayme and he had simply blurted it out to Jayme's _father._ Did he have any idea how stupid that was?

"I'm sorry; did you say _Becker slept _with _my daughter?" _Nick asked, his gaze flickering between the couple who had since shut up, looking nervously between each other and back at him.

"Cutter, it was a complicated situation," Abby stated, trying to reason with him, to stop him doing something he may regret. She knew Nick very well, he would confront Becker about all of this; she just hoped he wasn't too angry with him.

Personally, Nick couldn't believe it. He trusted Becker; he certainly didn't expect this from him; to cheat and sleep with _his_ daughter. It felt like he had been betrayed by his friend, he thought the soldier had more respect than that. What would drive him to do that? He wasn't going to find out from Abby and Connor, they weren't inside his mind, they wouldn't know. He had to find out from Becker. He really wanted to know why the soldier was messing around so stupidly, cheating, and bringing Jayme into it all. That wasn't fair on her, and it certainly wasn't what Nick wanted for her. He stood up from the chair and glanced at the husband and wife who sat awkwardly in the silence.

"I'll see you two later," Cutter announced, walking away from the table and towards his car. He knew exactly where he was going. He wanted answers.

"Did you _really _have to say that?" Abby questioned, slapping him lightly on the arm in frustration.

"I didn't realise. Where do you think he's going?" Connor asked, still rubbing his leg where he had been kicked.

Abby's eyes widened for a moment, "You don't think he's..."

"Going to the ARC?" Connor finished, looking nervously at the blonde beside him.

"That's not good, we have to follow him," Abby stated, standing up and gently placing the baby in the pram. The couple brought the baby back to the car, walking as quickly as they could with a child and a pram; it wasn't an easy task when you were in a hurry. She placed her in her car seat and sat in the front of the vehicle, ready to drive to the ARC. It was strange, Abby hadn't visited there in a while; at least everyone could see the baby.

Nick marched through the main control room of the ARC, followed quickly by a couple security guards who had found his behaviour unusual compared to his normal manner. He hadn't calmed down during the drive, in fact he was angrier. He didn't enjoy having his daughter messed around by a man, a friend, who was already taken, it wasn't fair on her. He was definitely going to have a word with that soldier. Becker was stood in the middle of the room, sorting out some reports on the lab table, totally clueless to the events around him, and to the approaching professor. Everything around him was a blur, moving past in quick motion as he walked down the steps. The anger rose in him, taking him completely off guard, he hadn't felt such a surge of parenthood overtake him before. It was his daughter. She had been used; taken advantage of. The captain turned towards the professor, ready to greet his old friend and team leader as he caught sight of him. Nick's fist flew out before he even had a chance to comprehend what his anger had caused him to do. Fist hit face. One collision. Skin crashing together. The adrenaline built up inside of him, obliterating any pain that may have crossed his knuckles. Becker stumbled back, hand shooting up to his cheek where a bruise was already forming. It had all happened in seconds, yet the confusion, the surprise hadn't melted away; both Nick and Becker were taken back by the sudden confrontation.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jayme shouted, stepping towards the two men. She looked between them, a bewildered expression on her face. He hadn't realised that his daughter had been in the room, he had only focused on the soldier.

"You took advantage of my daughter! What is wrong with you?" Nick questioned; his tone firm, clearly demanding answers.

Jayme's eyes widened, her head turning back to face her father. "How do you know about _that?"_

"Becker, what's going on?" Sam asked, wandering over towards the scene. She had a small suspicion of exactly what Nick had meant by what he said; she just didn't want to believe it. How could she believe it?

"Sam, I..." Becker began, being interrupted quickly by Nick.

"You haven't told her?"

"Told me what?" Sam questioned, glancing between the two men.

"Ok, everyone just shut up!" Jayme ordered, raising her voice at the three people.

"Don't tell me to-"

Jayme shot a look at Sam, a look that not even she would ignore, the soldier stopped talking quickly. "Ok, dad just please wait over there, Becker, Sam, go do what you two have to do, talk, no interruptions!" She added, looking pointedly at the couple, "Just talk, I'm sick of all of this, I don't want to deal with this anymore, talking behind each other's backs for answers, let's just deal with this situation now! _Please,_" She stated; a slight desperation in her voice. Everyone looked at her, not just the three she was talking to, everyone in the main control room; they had stopped working, all listening to the scene. All these secrets needed to be dealt with, she of all people knew how they could eat you alive, ruining everything in your life. It wasn't a good feeling, and you would always regret it in the end, secrecy and lying did nothing apart from destroy whatever was in its path, and everything around it.

"Sam," Becker began, holding out his hand to touch her shoulder gently, she shifted away instantly.

"Don't touch me, not after this," She snapped, harshly, "Let's just talk," She muttered, walking past him towards a corridor. She didn't think Becker would do something like that, cheat on her. But he did, and now what would happen, did she have the courage to break things off? If she didn't, he probably would anyway; there was nothing left to lose there. Becker glanced over at Jayme before following her silently, looks like they were going to do this; everything was going to be talked about now, dealt with.

"Well I've never seen Sam take orders like that," A voice stated, from above the steps. Jayme and Nick turned towards the voice, finding Connor by door. Abby came up from behind him, holding a small child in her arms, Jayme easily guessed that the baby was their newborn.

"You told him, didn't you?" Jayme questioned, her voice calm and quiet, yet something about it made Connor realise just how far he'd stepped out of line, he probably shouldn't have told Nick, even if he hadn't meant to.

"He didn't realise, Jayme, it wasn't on purpose," Abby stated, smiling at the brunette sympathetically.

"I know; it doesn't matter now, I guess," She responded, sending a small smile towards the couple, she then turned to face Nick, "Dad, I get that you're mad, but it wasn't Becker's fault, not completely, we were both responsible, just let us deal with it, please,"

"Fine, tell Becker I'm sorry I hit him, it wasn't supposed to happen, I didn't plan it," Nick stated, "Are you alright?" He asked, touching her arm lightly in consideration.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," She responded, sighing in relief. Everything was over. The hiding, the secrets; everything that she and Becker had done that night, everyone knew. In a way it made things easier, easier to move on from that night, things were clearer, simpler, she didn't have to hide.

"I'm going to go, probably best if I don't see his face for few hours," Nick told her, giving her a small smile before leaving, patting Connor on the shoulder as he went, just to show he wasn't mad at him for telling about everything. Connor appreciated it, just knowing that things were sorted out really helped him; he felt less guilty about telling him about Jayme and Becker's little secret. He had to admit though, the past couple days were definitely one hell of a landslide; everything had broken down, unfolded. And now, it was sorted out, just about anyway, the ground had settled. All Connor was waiting for now was what tomorrow was going to bring.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Empty Places

Monday morning wasn't the easiest for anyone around the ARC. Sam and Becker refused to be in the same room, no one was complaining, you could cut the tension with a knife it was so unbearable. Becker had told Sam all about the affair; then they had argued, Sam was upset, Becker was distressed, and eventually Sam had ended things between them. It didn't matter that Becker had wanted things to be over, it still felt weird; he had dated her for five months after all. On the other hand, it all felt right; there was no point in continuing a relationship that no longer meant anything to him, that no longer worked for either of them.

Nick had since calmed down, no longer angry at Becker. He still didn't agree with what he had done, but Jayme had visited later in the day on Sunday, explaining everything that had happened, telling him she was alright, that it wasn't all Becker's fault. There had been two of them after all. After a lot of talking, Nick had accepted Jayme's words, then they went on to simply spending some quality father-daughter time, things between them were getting better, they were comfortable, easier, just how a parent and child's relationship should be.

Danny stood in the gym of the ARC, holding onto the hand pads that he was using to cushion his skin as Jayme practiced her fighting. It was easier here, in the past there were no pads, they were practicing for real, whereas here he was cushioned against her. Each punch she threw, each kick she performed only impacted his hands rather than hurt them. She had been working out all morning, releasing all the stress that had built up inside of her, finally allowing her to regain composure. Action always managed to relax her, busying oneself with something always helped calm the mind. It definitely worked with Jayme.

"How much longer are you going to do this?" Danny asked her, watching as she steadied her breathing, still positioned in fighting stance, "Or are you avoiding everyone up there?" He queried, raising his eyebrows.

She threw out another punch, forcing his hand back slightly from the impact, "Not everyone," She stated, before performing a side thrust kick, generating all of her energy and irritation on that one move. He stumbled backwards from the kick; laughing at her once he had regained balance.

"Use any more force and I'll be through the wall," He told her, smiling at the slight expression of annoyance on her face. "This situation is really getting to you, isn't it?" He questioned, untying the hand pads he wore and throwing them onto the weight lifting bench beside him, sitting down on the other bench as he did so.

"Not as much as Sam, but it was my fault so I can't really complain," Jayme responded, removing the bandages that were wrapped around her palms and placing them on the shelf behind her.

"Yeah, it was your fault, Jayme, both you and Becker. But that doesn't matter anymore, it happened, Sam will move on, and so will you two," Danny stated, speaking the honest truth.

"Yeah, I just hope that happens soon," She murmured, wandering over behind the lockers out of view and changing back into her combat trousers and a black vest top. If it had been anyone else, she may have been taken back by the words, by the truth. But Danny always told her the truth; he knew it was easier than the lie. Lying simple prolonged the pain; it didn't prevent it, "So, anything new with you?" She questioned, wandering back into the room and looking over to him.

"Not really, apparently my hacking skills are good though, and just think, you doubted my talent," He replied, laughing at the brunette as she raised her eyebrows at him, "Doesn't look like I was detected, does it?"

"That doesn't mean we're out of trouble, sometimes things aren't picked up straight away, don't get cocky," She warned, walking over towards the door of the gym and peering out, checking that no one was around. "I'm really hoping you did get lucky," She added, glancing back over at the old team leader.

"Hang on a minute, lucky?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. He was pretty sure there was a different word for his achievement: skill.

Before she even had a chance to respond, the lights in the room shut down, pulling them almost into darkness, if it wasn't for the windows in the gym giving them some light. They shared a confused look until being distracted by the alarm that sprung to life, except it wasn't the familiar sound of the ADD, it was something else.

"What _is _that?" Jayme questioned, glancing over at Danny for answers, hoping he had some.

"Security alarm I think; goes off when someone who isn't supposed to be in here decides to pay a visit, or something like that. Guess it doesn't have to be human,"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Works for creatures too, I think," He clarified, erasing the confusion from her mind.

"We need to get to the team," Jayme stated, rushing out of the gym before Danny had even stood up and running into the main control room, hoping someone had answers. Danny was soon behind her, wandering past her and towards Matt who had also just entered the room.

"What's going on?" Jayme asked, moving towards the ADD where Jess typed away at the computer. She looked worried, and a bit stressed, Jayme wasn't sure why yet, but she knew something was wrong.

"Something's messing with the system, I can't access anything," Jess informed, trying her many ways of re-entering the computers, all failing.

"Let me see," Connor interjected, shifting over to the chair Jess had stood up from. He took over, typing away and using his own ways of accessing the system, it didn't look like it was working. If neither Jess nor Connor could do it, then Jayme was guessing it was serious, a lot more serious than some simple accident or virus, it was definitely something else.

"Lester's still at the meeting, isn't he?" Jess asked; concern in her voice, she didn't want her boss to get involved with whatever this was. Last time they were faced with a serious problem at the ARC, he was almost killed, and she had been terrified, not just for her sake, but for his.

"Yeah, he'll be safe," Matt stated, smiling at the field co-ordinator in reassurance.

"What's the alarm for, security?" Danny questioned, his gaze flickering between Matt, Connor and Jess.

"Yeah, security alarm, there's some sort of intruder in the building," Becker informed as he entered the room, joining the group, "Security team's on it, I've got them doing a sweep,"

"If I could get to the cameras, then we would know whether it's human or not, and who it was. I'm completely shut out of the system though, someone else is in control, I don't even know how they've done it," Connor stated, rising up from the chair and looking over to Matt, waiting for any new suggestions. "I built the protection for this system, it's almost impossible to crack, whoever it is knows exactly what they're doing," He added.

"Flatter yourself often, Connor?" Danny asked; a lopsided grin on his face.

"He is right though," Jess stated, "I've tried before, it's really good," She informed, glancing over at the monitors for a moment.

"Hey, I know he's capable. I was just joking," Danny responded, raising his hands in mock surrender, "The question is; how do we get back in?"

"Not sure. If I _can_get control back, it will take a while, and that's only if," Connor stated, an edge of uneasiness in his tone.

"What's going on?" A voice questioned, wandering over towards the group, "Is everything ok?" Emily asked, moving beside Matt and looking over at him.

"Someone's tampering with the system; and something's in the building," Matt informed, wrapping an arm around his fiancé's waist and pulling her close to him, protectively.

"Something?"

"Can't tell if it's human or a creature, we have no cameras working," Matt responded; now informing her with everything the team knew, it wasn't much to go on.

"Better check to see if the team's found anything," Becker stated, pulling out his mobile and bringing it to his ear as it rang. "Kate?"

"_Just about to call you, I think we may have a situation," _

"What is it?"

"_There's something in here, in the ARC, actually there's a lot of them, I think," _Kate's voice sounded nervous, almost a slight edge of fear in her tone, which made Becker uneasy, he knew that Kate very rarely got scared.

"Creatures?"

"_Yeah, I don't know what they are, they were fast, and I'm not sure where they've gone. You need to warn everyone. There's a couple soldiers down, Liam and Tom, but we've got them stabilised, no one's dead," _

"Good, I have to go, protect your team, Kate. You're in charge of whoever's down there with you, where are you anyway?"

"_One of the briefing rooms, second floor, I didn't catch the number, I think it's room 22,"_

"I'll send help if I can, stay safe," Becker stated, pushing the phone back into his pocket and looking uneasily at the team ahead of him, all eyes waiting for some form of answer. "Creature incursion, might be future, I don't know. She just said they were fast, couple men down; they're alright at the moment. How are we going to deal with this?"

"Did she say how many?" Matt asked, watching the soldier.

"A lot, they're on the second floor, somewhere around briefing room 22,"

"Ok, Jayme, Danny and Becker go down to the armoury, get weapons, lots of them, Connor, Jess, stay here, try and get back into the system. Emily you come with me, we'll check the corridors; I've got a couple EMD's up here already. Once you get the weapons, bring some up here, and then come down and meet us," Matt ordered, kissing Emily lightly on the head as the rest of the team moved off in separate directions.

"Come on," Emily stated, rubbing his arm before walking over to the EMD's on the lab bench and passing one to her fiancé, then charging up her own.

"Take your phone," Jess ordered, glancing over at the couple, "Comms aren't working, the whole system being controlled by someone else has messed up the communications," She informed, smiling at the two and moving back towards Connor, monitoring the screens in front of her as they tried to work out a way to get back into the system.

Emily and Matt wandered through the darkened corridors of the ARC; they were both on high alert and aware of their surroundings, looking for any sign of a creature. Everything was silent, it felt almost wrong. The ARC was very rarely this quiet, this still. Neither Matt nor Emily had witnessed one single creature cross their path. Granted, it was quite a large building when you take in account of all the separate sections of the ARC; the medical, the offices, briefing rooms, labs, security rooms, the menagerie; although even then it still didn't feel like there was enough rooms to fill out the space of the building, clearly that was simply an illusion. If the creatures were here though, where were they? Kate had claimed there were a lot, and clearly they were predators, so why weren't they attacking? Why were they nowhere in sight?

Once they had made it to the staircase, the couple wandered down, keeping their eyes ahead of them, watching for any movement, any sign of a threat. Their feet were quiet on the stairs, each step being carefully placed, barely making a sound. The couple didn't avert their eyes once; they had to keep looking out. The stillness unnerved them, the silence, the darkness, the emptiness of the place they were in, all of which sent shivers up their spines. Whenever they passed a window, the daylight shone through, illuminating their path, the torches from the EMD's gave off some light too, but none of it helped much. When the sunlight left, when the darkness took over, when all they had were the torch lights, it made them feel almost lost, missing in a sea of shadows, unaware of the dangers that lurked by.

"Becker said second floor, right?" Emily questioned; her voice out of place in the suddenly sinister atmosphere of the building.

"Yeah, briefing room 22," Matt responded, his voice low, keeping it down to avoid unwanted attention.

They moved onto the second floor after heading down the stairs, walking into a darkened corridor. Emily glanced over at Matt for a moment, watching the concentration on his face as he searched for some form of creature. Whatever was down here had attacked the security team, they still weren't sure how serious the soldiers had been injured, Becker hadn't said. The couple really hoped no one had been hurt too badly.

When it came to fighting predators, Matt and Emily were both well experienced, yet every time they encountered one, it brought up nerves that seemed to paralyse everything around them. It was simply one foot in front of the other, all they could do was listen, look, and remain aware of any movement that occurred, no matter how minor. Breathing felt weird, as if it were too loud, each breath travelling through the silence and breaking it. Yet that simple action, when covered in silence, showed how a person was feeling. Whether they were nervous, confident, upset, excited; was the breathing shaky, controlled, fast, deep? Emily always listened to the way people breathed when there was only silence to hear, she was deeply interested in the way people behaved, and the way they felt in certain situations. She would often find herself analysing a person's every movement when she was left with nothing else to do. No one really knows why humans do what they do because everyone is unique. Even as one person they are unpredictable, that was what Emily was most curious about, all the differences and unpredictability that laced the world and the life inside of it. Especially after watching how behaviour changed; actions in this time were different from what they were in her own time; during the Victorian era. In a way it was better, people were more comfortable and confident, there were equal rights for everyone, such as between women and men; yet this world was also full of deception; there were many people who hid behind a disguise, not wanting to be true to who they were because society in this time judged much more harshly than they did during her own time. At least back then it was blunt, everyone knew their place, even if it were unfair; yet here, they did it in such a way that led everyone to believe that any action was wrong, or any appearance. Comparing her two times fascinated Emily; behaviour, society, it all kept her interest. Matt was often captivated by her curiousness, her way of seeing the world; she was truly an amazing woman, very unique, and equally as strong. He loved her.

They turned another corner, walking onto yet another empty corridor. Where was everyone? Some people may have evacuated before the ARC went on lockdown, although they hadn't initiated lockdown themselves, whoever was in control of the system had done it; yet the ARC felt emptier than it should be. It was too empty. Too quiet. Too still. It didn't feel right. Without warning, something shot out from the darkness ahead. Neither knew what had happened until Emily was thrown backwards violently, crashing against the ground behind her, pain as strong as a thousand daggers sinking into her stomach. The scream of anguish shot through the air, destroying Matt's concentration, all of his senses mixing between each other, out of control. He blasted bullets at the creature, trying quickly to keep up with the moving predator. Desperation sank into him, he needed to get to Emily; he needed to hit this creature. Only when it made a run for Matt was he able to hit it directly through the head, skidding down beside him as it collapsed in a heap by his legs. He glanced down through the darkness, he knew that creature. He'd seen it before. It was the jaguar; the one they had guessed was from the future. Although, obviously it was a different one to the jaguar they had found by the forest. But, how had it gotten inside here?

"Matt," A quiet voice whispered into the silence, the shakiness in her tone making the words almost inaudible, yet they still echoed around the eerie, empty corridor, where only the couple remained, them and how ever many creatures still lay in the ARC, hunting the team down, one by one.

Matt slid down towards Emily, eyes scurrying over her body in a desperate attempt to comprehend the situation. Her eyes watered, watching as her fiancé struggled to take in the sight. He held his hands firmly onto her stomach, they were shaking; Emily had never seen him shake. She had never seen him this scared. He tried to speak; distracted by the deep red liquid that swam over his hands, staining him with his fiancé's blood.

"Matt," She repeated; clenching one of her hands into a fist as she tried not to cry from the pain. The other hand reached up to him, gripping onto his arm as he tried to slow the bleeding, "Matt, the baby," She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as she attempted to not think about the situation. But, how could she not? There was one slash across her stomach, how deep was it? Had it hurt her baby? Was it over?


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Something To Hide

Danny wandered back over to the table, lightly throwing a few grenades onto the surface, adding to the collection of weapons they had gathered. Both Becker and Jayme looked at him, Jayme raising her eyebrows at the old team leader as they did so.

"Just in case, we don't know what we're dealing with," Danny stated, a slight defensive tone edging his voice. He slung an EMD over his shoulder, grabbing a few other weapons that he would take to the main control room.

Becker and Jayme did the same, collecting the rest of the weapons and heading out of the armoury, cautiously checking down the corridor before wandering back through into the familiar control room of the ARC. Becker had clipped a couple grenades to his belt, Danny wore another couple; he was right; they might need them.

"Connor, take these," Becker began, indicating towards a few EMD's and a couple lethal weapons. Jayme, Danny and Becker placed them onto the bench behind the genius and the field co-ordinator, leaving them both armed and protected.

"Right, I'll go check on security team, you said second floor, right?" Danny began, glancing over at the Captain, he simply nodded in response, "And you two should start checking the other floors, check the third floor, we don't where these creatures have moved to by now," The old team leader instructed, nodding at both Becker and Jayme before grabbing his weapons and jogging out from the main control room and towards one of the staircases.

"Will you two be alright?" Jayme questioned, placing a gentle hand on Jess' shoulder who sat beside Connor, strategising on how to get back into the system.

"Yeah, we'll stay safe," Jess responded, smiling up at the brunette in assurance before turning back to her work. Jayme grabbed her EMD from the bench and headed through to a corridor, walking on towards a different set of stairs. Becker followed, soon catching up to her and wandering beside the brunette as they went on to check the third floor, ready to find the creatures, whatever they were.

"So, how are you?" Becker asked, glancing over at Jayme. Her gaze flickered to the floor for a second as she hesitated at the question; then looked back up to where she was walking before responding.

"I'm alright, you're the one who's just broke up with someone, how are you?" She questioned, stepping out onto the staircase and pointing the EMD light down into the darkness below.

"Good, everything's starting to get better, I know what I'm doing now, I know what I want," Becker responded, looking over at Jayme who avoided eye contact. He did know what he wanted; her.

"You're _really_ not making this easy for me," Jayme stated; letting out a small breathy laugh, a slight flicker of desperation falling through it. She _was_desperate, desperate to get him to stop, she didn't need this; it distracted her from any attempt to stay away from temptation.

"What am I not making easy?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe trying to stay away from all of that, from you,"

"I thought you weren't trying to hide your feelings anymore,"

"I'm not, I do know how I feel; I just can't act on it. Admitting feelings is a lot different to acting on them, sometimes it's better to avoid temptation,"

"Why avoid it when we both want it?" Becker questioned, stopping Jayme in mid-step as they walked into the corridor of the third floor, both looking directly at each other.

"Becker, you have _just _gotten out of a relationship, you need a little time; we both do. I've told you this,"

"Why should it matter?"

"Because, Becker, it matters, it all matters. And yeah it's hard staying away from you, but it's what I'm doing, and you can't convince me otherwise," Jayme stated, a slightly harsher tone edging her voice. She instantly felt a slight trickle of guilt fall through her, she hadn't meant it to sound quite like that, but the words were true, she knew they were.

"Always so stubborn," Becker muttered, shaking his head and repressing a smile.

"I guess some things never change, soldier boy," She responded, raising her eyebrows at the man and smiling.

"Yeah, even when everything else changes, some things remain the same, nothing seems to beat that Cutter stubbornness, runs in the family," He stated, smiling at her. She smiled back, biting her lip slightly. It would be practically unnoticeable if he hadn't been watching her so closely, watching every little movement, he was mesmerised by everything she did. And it was this that he missed so desperately. Jayme. Everything about her. The way they were three years ago before things became complicated; the time when he first met her; and when they were trapped together in the future. He missed when she was more herself. When she had arrived back here, nearly three weeks ago, everything had hit her full on, all of her regrets, fears, feelings; everything. Yet now, he could see a bit of the old her shining through. Somehow, he had missed the nicknames, even though he hated them, he missed her voice, missed the way she spoke to him when there was no awkwardness between them. Although, he didn't want her being completely the same as the old her; he liked the new Jayme, without the strain between them anyway. She admitted her feelings, she opened up, and soon, hopefully, she would be back to normal, after everything was out of the way, she would be able to relax more. She simply made him smile, laugh; he knew three years ago that she would be interesting to work with, and now, he knew his prediction had been right. He had never met a woman quite like Jayme Cutter; she was completely unique.

"So, did Kate say what these creatures were?" Jayme questioned, turning to face the corridor ahead and falling back into awareness; knocking Becker out of his thoughts and into reality.

"Nope, just that they were fast. I'm just trying to figure out how they got into the ARC, there's been no anomalies,"

"I've got a hunch, I'll let you know if I'm right when I find out,"

"You could just tell me now, get it over with,"

"No, I prefer waiting, it's more fun," Jayme murmured slowly, not really focusing on the words that were supposed to come out in a light hearted manner. She tilted her head slightly at an office to her right as she spoke. The door was down, straight off its hinges, flat on the floor. She peered through, holding her EMD steady as she aimed it inside the room, checking all corners of the area.

"What is it?" Becker questioned, wandering up behind her, raising his EMD into the air as a precaution.

"They've been up here, that's for certain," Jayme stated, slowly walking into the room. It was all too quiet, as if something were watching her, although she hadn't seen anything. "Whether they've gone or not, I'm not sure," She added, placing her EMD down onto the desk as something caught the corner of her eye. She knelt down onto the ground behind the chair, her fingers tracing the dark liquid scattered across the floor. She brought her fingertips up to her nose, the thick copper smell immediately rushing to her senses. "Blood," She informed, standing back up and facing Becker, "Someone else must have been hurt, the creatures are making their way up floor by floor,"

"And if they get up to fifth floor?"

"Then Connor and Jess are going to paid a visit," Jayme announced, looking at Becker uneasily.

Before he even had a chance to respond, the phone in his pocket began ringing, the sound echoing through the empty corridors. He picked it up, bringing the phone to his ear instantly.

"_Becker?"_

"Matt? What is it?"

"_I need help, Emily; she-she's been injured. Becker I need your help, don't let her die, I can't stop the bleeding, it's not working, I-"_

"Hold on, Matt. Where are you?"

"_Second floor, in one of the briefing rooms, I don't know which one. There'll be a dead jaguar outside of it. Becker, hurry, I don't know how long she can hold on," _Matt responded, all of the words coming out in a rush, the phone shutting off as soon as they were out of his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Jayme questioned, wandering over towards the soldier who stood, phone in hand, worry in his eyes, looking blankly at the wall.

"Emily's been injured, really badly. I need to get to them, Matt needs help," Becker answered, regaining focus and turning to face the brunette who stood not far from him.

"Here, take the first aid," Jayme suggested, her voice soft, giving an unusual calming effect on him; that was new. She walked over and passed him the first aid box that was stuck to the wall of the office; every office had one, for health and safety reasons. Although, when working at the ARC; it probably would have been better to have a doctor in every room. "I'll stay up here, try and find the creatures,"

"On your own? Jayme, they'll kill you. It's the future predator, that jaguar, from the forest; except there are a lot of them. Jayme, none of us can stand against a future predator on our own,"

"I have, before I met you, I've been to the future many times, through its many changes to the timeline, I can handle this, just help Emily and Matt," Jayme told him, although, she wasn't sure she could handle these creatures on her own, not when there was so many. She couldn't tell Becker that, if they both went down to help Emily then no one would be looking for the creatures; she had to do this.

"Alright," Becker replied, taking the first aid from her hand, "Stay safe," He told her, giving her hand a soft squeeze before rushing out from the office, EMD in hand. He knew better than to try and argue with her, she was stubborn, she wouldn't budge, she'd made up her mind and he would just have to deal with it. He just hoped nothing bad would happen to her.

"You two," She whispered into the silence, into the empty office. She closed her eyes for a moment, grabbing the EMD from the desk. It was true that she had handled many future predators on her own but that was before this, before having other people to worry about, before actually caring whether she lived or died; here, people cared about her. Back then, she was fine, she was alone, she had no feelings to deal with; her mind was much more programmed to fighting predators without a care in the world. Everything had since changed. Then again, she had always thought emotions were a weakness, a distraction, something that always ended with the person being hurt, whether it be physically or emotionally. Now, she may have realised that they had another purpose, rather than just drive you forward in life, they gave you power. Power alone would get you nowhere, it led nothing to the imagination, keeping an even and empty mind may keep you safe but in the end, it would destroy you; whereas emotions, they gave you the fire, they gave you strength, they gave you a reason to win, which was why good people always won in the end; their purpose was stronger, stronger than revenge, than control, than any selfish reason; emotions gave you strength, they added to the power, they gave you meaning.

She wandered up the flight of stairs, stepping out on the fourth floor. The creatures must be around here somewhere, they couldn't just vanish into thin air. They were quite big, the jaguars stood at around a metre, they were large, powerful, agile, but there were apparently quite a few, which required a lot of space. How had she not found any, how hadn't any crossed her path?

Ahead of her, something shifted in the darkness. A shadow. Stalking towards her, moving carefully, moving slowly; each step in perfect control. Jayme shone the EMD light down the corridor, immediately lighting up a pair of eyes watching her. A creature. A jaguar. It wasn't attacking. That was what she couldn't figure out. A jaguar will stalk its prey, but if it knows it's been seen then it'll attack; and since it was the future version; it would attack fast.

She held the EMD in the air, keeping it steady on the creature, ready to fire. But what was causing her to hesitate? Something wasn't right; she could feel it. There was something wrong here; she just couldn't figure out what. The creature came further into the light; keeping eye contact. There was something off about the creature; it was acting strangely, different to the one by the forest. Jayme stepped forward, watching the jaguar intently, keeping her finger on the trigger in the case of any sudden movement. The predator stopped in its tracks as it stood just over a metre away from her. Then it did something even stranger. The creature lowered its legs, and then its head, almost in a bow. That's when she noticed it; the slight trickle of blood that stained its coat by the back of its neck. She wandered over to it, unusually calm considering she was so close to a predator, a future predator. She pressed her fingers to the moist fur, a chill feeling spreading through her; this wasn't right. A sharp metal nail was pressed firmly into the back of the creature's neck, holding a folded piece of paper to the creature. She pulled the paper free, sliding the nail out of the skin. The creature didn't flinch, as if it weren't in control of its own body.

Jayme traced the ink, her heart stopping as she read the words written on the paper. This is why the creature had acted like that, she could remember now. Amanda. She had wanted technology to control the creatures; before Jayme wasn't sure if the new future held what she wanted, apparently it did. She had the technology, so what was she planning now? What was her main objective? Her plan had clearly changed a little, the words on the paper basically told her that, if her attention wasn't focused completely on her original mission, then it would be postponed a little, which meant that she and Danny may have a chance to stop her before she does any damage. She took a glance around her, remembering what was taking place in the ARC at this very moment in time; well, stop her before she did any _more_damage.

She held the EMD to the creature's head; it made no attempt to dodge the weapon as she pressed the trigger, releasing a couple EMD bullets into the skull of the jaguar. It fell to the ground, dead; it was no longer in pain, that's what mattered. Jayme headed further down the corridor, tucking the note into her pocket as she walked. She would show Danny later, he needed to know what was happening, things had definitely changed now. She turned another corner, wandering onto a new corridor as she resumed her search for the creatures.

The track blurred below Becker as he felt the all familiar surge of adrenaline pump through his body; he couldn't let a team member die, not another one. The steady beat of footsteps echoed through the empty corridors, and a bead of sweat rolled down his face; more likely from the anxiety than anything else. Forcing his legs to push on harder, he managed to keep the sprint, as if it were nothing but a simple walk. He rounded the corner and came to an abrupt halt. His breathing hitched in his throat, making his screaming lungs almost burst as everything went silent, still. This was the place. He marched forward, gaze flickering over the walls as he tried to decide which door to choose. His heart stopped as his foot skidded across the floor, the thick red liquid smearing the ground beneath him. He looked down, following the blood trail to one of the doors beside him. Without another thought, he barged into the room, shutting it behind him and looking straight ahead at the scene. Matt had his hands pressed firmly against Emily's stomach, holding what once was his blue shirt against her skin. The team leader's chin trembled slightly as he took a quick, shuddering breath and blinked rapidly to see past the rim of tears threatening to overspill his eyes. Becker had never seen Matt this saddened, this vulnerable, over something before. Then again, neither Matt nor Emily had ever been in this kind of situation before. Becker moved forward, trying to avoid looking at her face, the shade of her skin slowly paling as time ticked away.

"What happened?" Becker questioned, marching over to him and standing on the opposite side of the desk where Emily lay. His gaze flickered down at the wound, checking to see how bad the damage was, how deep it was, how deadly.

"She was attacked," Matt stated, his voice sounding so much calmer than how he looked, or how he felt. Clearly he was trying to stay strong for her, forcing himself to keep an even mind, or as even as he could manage as his fiancé bled to death in front of him.

"I've got bandages," Becker told him, opening the first aid kit swiftly and pulling out the white fabric. "She's going to be ok, Matt," He assured the man, nodding at him as he held the bandages over the wound and began to wrap them around her stomach.

"She might be, but what about the baby, Becker? We have no idea how this could affect it,"

"What baby?" Becker questioned, stopping his actions for a moment in surprise, since when was there a baby? He would talk about that with Matt later, now really wasn't the time to be discussing pregnancy, especially as the lives of both the mother and the baby were at stake.

"She's pregnant, Becker, I don't know what to do, she can't die; the baby can't die!"

"Okay, it's going to be alright," Becker reassured, numbing out the thoughts that swam through his mind, was she really going to be alright? The worst part was, he felt guilty over worrying about Jayme, Emily was dying, and most of his mind was focused on the daughter of Nick Cutter. He shook his head slightly, blinking a few times and resumed the check over the covered wound. It was stabilized, Emily should survive, he hoped; but he had no way to see if the baby was alright, the trauma was huge, the blood loss was great, and this wasn't the best conditions for a fetus, there was a high chance it was dead already. Although he wouldn't tell Matt that, he couldn't, the man looked so destroyed already, the way his eyes wouldn't leave the woman he loved. That's what Becker wanted, a relationship like Matt and Emily's, a relationship like Connor and Abby's, something real. But this wasn't the time for that, not when the very relationship he envied was at risk, not when Emily was dying in Matt's arms.

"What if it isn't?" Matt questioned, raising his voice at the soldier. "How can you act so calm? Do you even care about her?" He shouted; almost confused as to where the anger came from, why was he shouting at Becker, his close friend, it wasn't the soldier's fault, he was trying to help. This was all messing with his mind; he was worried, deeply worried, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't lose Emily. "I'm sorry, I just can't let her die," He whispered, rubbing a hand over his forehead as he paced alongside the desk, he wouldn't let her die.

"I'm not going to blame you for shouting, Matt. I understand, I don't want her to die either," Becker stated, his voice firm but soothing. He patted a hand to Matt's shoulder in a gentle reassurance, stopping him from pacing in the process, pacing wouldn't help him, it would make him feel worse, more agitated.

"I know," Matt murmured, sending his friend a small smile before glancing nervously back down at his fiancé, his love, his everything.

Jayme carried on wandering through the corridors of the ARC, turning her head at every imagined sound, uneasy about the silence that seemed to cling to the building, as if there was no possible way to break it. Until somehow it did. The slamming of a door echoed through the corridor, just ahead from where she was. She ran, her footsteps travelling through the building. Another bang. A thud. The door was thrown to the ground; the sound of wood splinters pattering against the floor came to her senses. If it was the jaguars breaking down the door then the person inside didn't stand a chance. She needed to get to them. Her legs moved faster than she thought feasible as she neared the location of the commotion. The wooden splinters across the floor indicated the room which had been attacked, the door set against the floor; a scene much like the one she and Becker had walked in on. But the creatures were nowhere in sight. That was strange. They were there only a moment ago. It was the jaguars which had broken down the door. She wandered into the office, glancing around at the destruction that was there. The smell of blood was high in the air, making her feel slightly nauseous from the thick copper scent filling the room. She hurried around the desk, her assumption soon being confirmed as she found the dead body of an employee etched out across the floor. Multiple slash wounds were torn into his torso, the blood seeping out of them like melted butter, flowing down easily across the white shirt. This was the only difference. The body was still here. In the previous office, there had been no body. Did that mean the job wasn't finished? Had the creatures moved away because she had arrived onto the scene? Or were they still here, lurking in the darkness?

The brunette took one last look at the body, pressing her fingers to the man to check he was gone, he was. Jayme moved away, glancing around the room, they weren't inside, but where exactly could they have hidden? How could they have run away so fast? She jumped into alert as a click sounded from outside of the office. She knew the sound; claws moving against the ground; claws that could very well belong to a jaguar, a future predator. Maybe they hadn't left the scene after all. They could be just lying in wait; waiting for her. She held the EMD into the air, the light shining through into the darkness at the entrance of the office. It only took moments until the light caught a pair of pale green eyes. Then another. And then another. They moved into the office, walking in a way that led Jayme to the knowledge that these were under the same nerve control technology. Except, these jaguars weren't here to deliver a message. They were here to kill. They were here to eliminate the members of the ARC. The numbers built up to five as they piled into the office, staring at the brunette. Then six. Then seven. Jayme aimed the EMD at the closest, ready to sweep over all of them, take them all out hopefully before they got to her. She pressed the trigger, ready to release the bullets. Light shimmered across her arms as sparks shot out from the EMD, sending a shooting pain through her hand. The weapon dropped instantly to the floor, the torch light flickering for a second before fading into the darkness. She shook her hand, removing the tingling feeling that the sparks had sent through her skin. The creatures didn't seem affected by the sparks, by the sudden movement. They simply stared at her, waiting to pounce. The brunette stepped back, why hadn't she brought a back-up weapon? The EMD lay on the ground, how had it broken? Why was it broken? Was it faulty? It definitely chose the wrong time to break down. A sudden bloom of an icy cold chill swept over her body, draining the blood from her as she stood there defenceless. She was surrounded. No way out. No weapons. No help. She could feel the prickles of hair on the back of her neck. This was it. There was no escape. A shiver escaped down her spine as she faced the creatures, staring back into the green eyes of the closest jaguar, the leader. She wasn't going to cower. If this was it, she would go down fighting. She would go down strong. Amanda wasn't going to have that kind of control over her. Jayme wouldn't let her, she couldn't let her win. Not now. Not ever.


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Playing With Fire

As she stood at the side of the room, her feet firmly placed on the ground in defiance, she felt the all familiar feeling surging back to her. After all of her time fighting alone through the anomalies, she knew this feeling too well. The way death could just be a second away, yet she had always come out of it alive in the end. The problem was that she had never been unarmed during all those times in her past, she had always worn her lucky knife like a second skin; she was always backed up by her trusty pistols. Now, she had nothing. What came to Jayme in this moment of reality was that she wasn't afraid of death. It wasn't something she wanted. Yet she knew that it happened to everyone, sometimes earlier than seen fair. What she didn't want was to leave now that she had finally started to get a life together. She had a father now. And she was surrounded by people she cared about. But that was the ironic thing about death; it masked you when you'd least expect it, when you'd least want it, when life was finally starting to make sense. It wasn't fear that she felt as she stood in front of the jaguars that faced her. It was more like regret. Regret for taking so long to figure things out. But everything happened for a reason, right? If she hadn't lived the way she had done, she may not have realized the things she now understood. She may have ended up well and truly lost. Now she could see the light, it was dim, and far away, but she was working hard, she was getting closer; it was all she sought, a light within the darkness to guide her way. She'd just wanted to sort things out. And that was exactly what she was in the middle of. Unfortunately, it appeared that things were putting an end to that. The light wasn't looking as bright as she wished. She was surrounded. No way out. Nothing to defend herself with. Bare. Exposed. But she had made it this far. That was what counted. That was all that mattered.

She closed her eyes softly, listening to the steady beat of her heart in the silence. The way the blood pumped through her. The way life worked. The way she existed. A click sounded on the ground, a small growl falling through a jaguar's mouth. Before she had managed to comprehend anything, a vague voice shouted at her, ordering her to 'duck'. Jayme did as they said, rolling to the ground behind the desk in one swift movement. The storms of a fire crackled, a heavy noise bursting through her ears. A force like a thousand strengthened winds hit her, shifting the desk away, pushing her into the wall as she reacted against the threat. Smoke danced its way to her senses, the thick grey cloud stinging her eyes as she looked into the darkness. She couldn't hear anything now. The noise had since ceased. All that could be heard was her deep breaths as she drove her mind into many thoughts. What had just happened?

Then, the same voice spoke again, their volume loud as they called over the billowing smoke. "Are you alright?" It was female. She knew the voice. She just couldn't focus. She couldn't listen. She was simply trying too hard to figure out the recent events. She was surrounded. She ducked. There was a noise. An explosion? Smoke was now everywhere, the office a larger mess than before. It was completely destroyed. The body of the employee was laid crumpled back from its previous position, pushed against the wall where the force had hit it. Wooden splinters had poured out from the desk, it was still intact though. Not totally diminished. The jaguars were no longer in sight. As smoke began to clear, one of her many questions had been answered, blood dripped the walls, pieces of flesh clung to the floor. The jaguars were in a heap, occasional body parts torn from them, ripped apart by the explosion. It had to be an explosion. Jayme turned her head to the doorframe, the figure of a woman coming into her sights as the remainder of smoke fell into the air, clearing her vision.

"Sam?" The brunette questioned; the obvious confusion mixed with surprise slipping into her voice. Out of all the people, she wasn't who Jayme had expected to be standing there; to save her.

"Save the shock, and the thanks. I'd rather not hear it, but if you think for a second that I would ever let or wish for someone to die then you have another thing coming. I'm not the bad guy, remember?" Sam stated; waiting by the doorframe as Jayme made her way out of the office remains.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened; I wasn't trying to hurt you; I didn't mean for it to happen. I get it, ok? That probably means nothing to you, it's no excuse, but it wasn't my intention to break you up. I was weak; I'm not as strong as I'd like to think when it comes to certain things. I don't find any of this easy, trying to get some sort of a life isn't easy for me, and I didn't mean to mess with yours,"

"I don't want to hear it, Cutter. You're right, there is no excuse, and I ain't looking to become friends and skip our merry way around the garden like there's no tomorrow. Me and Becker, we're over. But that doesn't mean I forgive you, and it doesn't mean it didn't hurt,"

"For what it's worth, I _am _sorry,"

"I hear you, but you need to understand that I don't like you, we're _not _friends. I will tolerate you, and I won't let you die, it's not my style, but we're not friends; and what you did, there's no excuse,"

"So, how about an agreement to at least tolerate each other?"

"Works for me," Sam stated, and for a second, Jayme was convinced she saw a flicker of a smile; then again, it was more likely wishful thinking. She could live with the fact that Sam didn't like her, but finding out that she would at least tolerate her after what Jayme had done, had surprisingly meant a lot. Then again, knowing that the soldier wasn't holding as big of a grudge as she thought, led her to feeling guiltier than she had felt before. Sam was an honest person, she said what she believed, no matter how bold, or blunt, but she was the good guy, they were both on the same team here, they would have to tolerate. Making each other the enemy would get them nowhere; strangely enough, though they would never admit to the other, both Jayme and Sam liked that fact. It was much easier than being completely against each other; it wasted a lot less energy.

"By the way, what _are _you doing up here?" Jayme questioned as the two headed down the corridor, their minds in belief that those seven jaguars were the last of the incursion; they couldn't be more wrong.

"Danny sent me to look for you and Becker, check you were ok. He gave me the grenades, good thing really; there'd be no way I could've taken them all out by EMD. There's a couple more soldiers running around, you know, making sure everyone else is unharmed,"

"Yeah, tell that to the two dead people, and the injured people. And they probably weren't the only ones affected," Jayme stated, sharing a quick glance with Sam; the same thing swam around both of their minds, whatever had happened in the ARC, it wasn't going to be easy to fix, and Jayme knew it was far from over. Amanda was still out there. And she was prepared to cause a lot of damage. There were no limits with her. This whole incident proved that. She had the technology, she had the creatures, she had the access; she was determined to get both Danny and Jayme off her back before she continued with her main mission; and this whole thing wasn't going to be easy, and it certainly wouldn't end well.

The main control room was darkened, quiet, and still. Connor was sat at the ADD, his laptop plugged into the machine, and typing away, using any possible attempt he knew of to push his way back into the system, to take control again. Jess was stood by the desk, where the weapons lay, watching cautiously for shadows, for movement. It had been too long. There had been too much silence. No one had visited them. Neither the field co-ordinator nor Connor had heard anything from the other team members. And that was what worried them most. There were no creatures. No sound. The atmosphere was disturbing, as if they were the only life in the building; this freaked Jess out more. She wasn't a fan of these situations, she hated them. She didn't enjoy the dangers out in the field; she much more preferred being behind the desk, knowing what was going on, watching the black-boxes on the screen moving around each other as the team handled the anomaly. It wasn't like this now. Things had changed. The tables were reversed, and she wasn't handling the uncertainty of what may be lurking in the darkness very well. It was all out of her comfort zone. Connor had been there for her, he kept her going; he had reassured her during those moments where she had unwillingly let the fear take over her. But they had still had no luck, they hadn't gotten back into the system, the ARC was being controlled by someone else; and it wasn't helping to ease her.

Goosebumps travelled over across her skin, sending shivers through her body. She didn't like this, not at all. The darkness seemed to overtake her. There were no windows in the main control room, no light. Just the torches that Connor had set up; and the illumination of the laptop screen. It almost felt like she was completely alone; as if Connor wasn't there, as if she was facing this whole situation on her own. Even when turning her head to see her team member typing away on the laptop, even when listening to the steady beat of his fingers drumming away on the keyboard, it didn't assure her. She couldn't help the daunting feeling that crept up on her; washing away all sense of hope, of safety. Jess stood, her dainty hand lingering over the EMD beside her. Nothing had alerted her to any sudden appearance, there was no reason to feel threatened; yet that persistent numbness of all senses led her to thinking that she was being watched, like a thousand pairs of eyes were burning through her skin. But that was crazy. She shook the thought away before it caused her to worry any longer; there couldn't possibly be something watching her and Connor. She would have noticed it. The two were on high alert; they would have heard some sort of movement, witnessed some form of a shadow, right?

She tore her eyes away from the darkness, hoping that in some way, it would help rid her of the thoughts that crawled through her mind. The field co-ordinator wandered over towards Connor, lifting the EMD up with her as she left the spot she was standing in. Her blue eyes flitted across the laptop screen, and then the ARC monitors, viewing the progress that the man may have made.

"How's it going?" Jess asked, sending a glance back behind her as she waited for an answer.

"It's getting there, further than I was before, anyway," Connor responded, his fingers hesitating over the keyboard for a second before he resumed his attempt of gaining access back into the ARC's system. Things were beginning to look up; he was closer to obtaining control over it all again. That was exactly what they needed.

A couple floors down, inside a briefing room of the second floor, Kate stood beside the long table, her hands working on the injury of the man sitting there. For a soldier, Kate was rather dainty, her petite figure out of place in the briefing room of male soldiers, and Danny. She lifted her steady hands from a wound on the man's legs, Tom. She had just finished wrapping the bandage around the injury, securing it from infection. The only problem was the jaguar had torn through the muscle in his thigh; he wouldn't be able to walk on it. They had gotten out lucky though, only a couple men down, Tom and Liam. Well, she had injured her arm, but they didn't need to know that; one little cut wasn't going to affect her in any way, shape or form. Kate had a high pain threshold, and the adrenaline flowing through her veins aided her in forgetting the soreness that shot through the slash in her arm. She was incredibly thankful for that, she would never let wounds get to her, especially when she had been put in charge of these men. She had had worked hard throughout her military career, toughening up from petty insults and occasional sexist comments, earning respect quickly in every command she was placed in. It didn't take long; she had a swift way of earning respect amongst all ranks. When it came to her job, she took no shit. She was always focused, analytic and confident. That was why she hated admitting that she had been slightly scared when she first came to this job; given the strange expertise of it, it wasn't much of a surprise; it had all been completely new territory for her.

"Are we sending anyone else out there to help?" Danny questioned, walking over to the noirette who stood by the table, watching over the soldiers as they paced around the room, irritated by the fact they were cooped up in this room when they believed they should be out there in the ARC, helping people, killing those creatures that had invaded the corridors.

"No; Sam, Riley and Scott are enough for now. I didn't want to have to send them out anyway, it's too dangerous, I was told to keep them safe, keep them protected," Kate responded, closing her eyes for a moment; if anything were to happen to her team members, she would be the one to blame. She'd been told to stay safe, how was sending her team members out into the chaos keeping safe? It didn't matter that they had wanted to go, that they had wanted to help; if they were hurt, or killed, she wouldn't be able to stop the guilt from attacking her.

"They're smart, Kate, they'll be fine. And anyway, they are part of the security team, it's their job, they can handle themselves," Danny told her, gently patting her shoulder in comfort as he walked away and took a swift, cautious glance through the corridor, opening the door a crack. There were no creatures in sight, but there were also no people; Kate wasn't the only one hoping everyone was safe, Danny hoped too, everyone did.

Jess held the EMD in the air, complete silence falling over the control room as Connor stood next to her, aiming his own weapon through the room. Her breath was shaky, forcing its way through her, causing her whole body to tremble. She watched nervously as Connor walked ahead of her, the torch light corrupting the darkness, searching amongst the shadows. Something was in here. She couldn't think. Her mind was numb, dizziness flowing through her, altering her sense of balance and sight. It all didn't feel right. Her chest was tightening as she struggled to keep her quiet breathing steady. Trapped; that's how she felt, unable to move, to think, to act. What was happening to her? Connor seemed so far away, treading into the dark, his light illuminating parts of the room. The EMD slipped out from her hands, the noise barely registering through her ears, yet the sound would have been loud, Connor would have heard it; the predators would have heard it. Her fingers gripped the table, trying to hold onto reality; it all felt surreal, every passing second she felt more and more lost. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't. Her heart pounded through the silence, blood rushing through her body, heating her skin, sending a fuzzy sound through her ears. She didn't register when Connor's hands gripped her shoulders, shouting for her. Nothing made sense. She felt too faint. He dropped his hands, a blurry image of his figure moving away from her. Where was he going? Her fingers held on tight to the table, but it didn't stop her from sliding down, hitting the floor as she fell. Four legs crossed her path; her eyes barely picking up the hazy sight. Then it fell. Something collapsed beside her. So close. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. It was all too much. Blinking away the water in her eyes as her hands shakily held onto the floor, she caught one clear sight of a face. As it lay next to her, unconscious, possibly dead, she found herself staring into the unmoving eyes of the jaguar, before slipping away into the darkness, before falling into unconsciousness.

Connor's heart was racing, adrenaline beating through him as his eyes searched the room. He glanced over to the first predator, dead, lying beside Jess. He didn't have time to help her. She must have fainted, he didn't know, he wasn't sure, he couldn't confirm it. There were more creatures in here, surrounding him. He knew how to handle himself, he had years of experience; but that didn't mean he would win; it didn't matter how trained you were in fighting against these creatures; they always had a chance of winning, especially future predators. He watched cautiously, his gaze flicking between the three jaguars that headed into the room. Connor swiftly slid behind one of the desks, out of sight, aiming his weapon around the corner of the furniture. His finger sharply found the trigger, freeing rounds of EMD bullets at his targets. They pulsed through the air, expertly hitting the moving creatures as they ran towards him. All three fell to the floor. The whole scene looking much easier than it had been for the man. Although, he had to admit that it definitely wasn't one of the hardest situations he had ended up in. He shot up, rushing over to the unconscious Jess, lifting her dainty wrist and pressing two fingers to the skin. There was a pulse. That was a relief. Connor snatched Jess' EMD from the floor, spinning round on crouched knees as footsteps sounded behind him.

"Watch where you're pointing that thing, Temple," The blonde soldier immediately announced; the playfulness evident in his tone.

"Yeah, you could seriously hurt someone, mate," The second man stated, grinning at Connor, matching Scott's light-hearted tone. The brunette soldier, Riley, headed over to the man, Scott following him, and helped Connor ease Jess up onto the desk. He removed his jacket, resting it under the field co-ordinator's head to prevent ache on her neck once she awoke. Riley was another one of soldiers that belonged to the security team, his floppy brown hair often fell over his dark green eyes; this caused Becker to throw certain comments is way, such as why didn't he ever get it cut. That was a question he was asked quite a few times; the simple truth being that his mother had always told him she loved his hair like that; after she passed away from cancer, he didn't have the heart to change it; it was just something he could never bring himself to do. He would trim it to keep it from growing too long, to make sure he could still see, but every time his hair was cut, he asked for the same style. For him, there was no other style he would want but the one that his mother had loved so much. His facial features were a lot softer than Scott's, his nose slightly rounder at the end, his cheek bones not as high or defined. He was actually quite different to Scott in many ways, for instance he definitely wasn't as flirtatious, or promiscuous. But the two were still close mates; they had been ever since they began working together. They were two of Becker's best men, the others being Kate and Sam, who were best women rather than men.

"So where were you two when I actually needed your help?" Connor questioned, placing the EMD onto another table and leaning against it. He watched Scott move around the room, checking the corridors that led out of the main control room for any creatures. There wasn't any to be seen. They were all hoping that these three were the last of them.

"Had to help a few staff on the other floors, the bloody things were working their way around door by door; it seemed so human, you know, emptying the ARC, moving up onto each floor. Not stuff you see animals plan out, is it?" Riley responded; lowering his weapon and hooking the gun strap over his shoulder.

"Not exactly, but then again you never know what to expect with these future predators,"

"Yeah, go figure, right?" Riley murmured, glancing down at his wrist to check the time. It had only been about an hour, it was strange how this whole incident had felt so much longer than that.

"So what do we do now?" Scott asked, joining the two men by the desk, sending another swift glance around the room.

"I need to get back into the system, I'm nearly there, I know I'm close, it should be just a few minutes," Connor stated, moving over towards the monitors and his laptop, "Well I hope," He added, placing himself down into the chair and typing away on the keyboard. If this way was working, it really shouldn't take much longer, he could do this, it was his system, he created it; he could fix it.

Captain Becker held the blood-soaked shirt onto the wound, the white bandages gradually turning into a dark shade of red. Emily was becoming colder by each passing minute, the chill of her skin shocking both Becker and Matt each time their hands brushed past it. Becker's jacket was wrapped around her shoulders, holding any heat that lingered around her close to her skin, his best attempt at keeping her as warm as possible.

"Matt, we have to get her to the medical bay, there's no way she's going to last if we don't," The soldier told him, watching as the team leader in front of him watched his fiancé with nervous eyes, desperately clinging on to any hope he may still have.

He nodded; each movement slow, as if too much sudden action would make things worse. "What about the creatures?" He questioned, looking up at Becker for the first time in about ten minutes.

"We'll make it," Becker assured him, his voice firm, deliberately avoiding the question. This plan was only working on the hope that the creatures wouldn't interfere. Whether the hope was a long-shot was something that the soldier didn't even want to consider. Emily was going to die if she didn't receive any kind of medical help in the next few minutes. The baby was most likely already dead; he simply couldn't bring himself to tell Matt that. He wasn't even sure how much more the man could take, he looked just as destroyed as his fiancé, every single splash of life was drained from him, the only thing that remained was his solid determination and hope to save his love.

Matt shifted his hands underneath Emily's back, moving slowly to not disrupt her too much. He glanced over to Becker who stood at the door, EMD in hand, cautiously checking the corridors for any creatures. It was clear. Matt gently supported his fiancé as he scooped the woman into his arms, ensuring that she was as comfortable as possible before following the soldier out of the door and through the building. The weight on his arms was beginning to make its existence perfectly clear on Matt whilst he wandered up yet another flight of steps. He cradled her in his arms, keeping her as warm as he feasibly could, holding her close to him with every step. Becker was a couple feet in front of him, everything was clear so far. No signs of creatures. This was the last staircase they needed to walk up, it led onto the fifth floor, the floor that held the main control room, the security zone, and the area they badly needed: the medical bay.

Quickening their pace, the two men rushed through the building, the corridors a blur behind them as they headed towards the medical bay. It wasn't far. Becker was simply trusting that a doctor would be there, that they hadn't evacuated that area. Hopefully not. He didn't even want to know what would happen if there was no one there. They would simply have to manage. The doors flew open as the soldier charged through, Matt behind him, and found the nearest bed to lay Emil onto. Her eyes were closed, her skin pale, her stomach covered in blood, but there was still a pulse, there was still a chance. She was strong; too strong to let go so easily. She wouldn't give up. Matt sat down beside her, holding both of her hands in his, pressing his lips to them gently. He closed his eyes, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart beat as he did so. For that one moment, as everything else moved away, as everything became suddenly clear, he knew that she would survive. She had to.

"Is there anyone here?" Becker called out frantically, moving away from the couple and heading through the rooms.

"Yes, what's wrong, Captain?" One of the doctors answered, wandering out from one of the offices; Becker had assumed he was protecting himself from the predators.

"We need help Jason, Emily's been injured, she's through here," Becker stated, tilting his head in the direction then turning to head back over to the bed where Emily lay.

"Was she attacked by the creatures?" The head doctor, Jason, questioned, glancing up at Becker before checking Emily's heart rate, and then peeling back the bloodied bandages that hid the wound.

"Yes, is she going to be alright?"

"It's hard to say, I'll have to operate to close the wound, and she'll need to be checked for internal bleeding,"

"One more thing," Becker began, holding his arm out to the man and directing him out of Matt's earshot, "She's pregnant, I don't think there's any hope for the baby now, but if there is, I want you to do your best to save the pregnancy," He finished, keeping his voice low.

"Of course,"

Becker nodded at the doctor before walking over towards Matt, placing his hand on the man's shoulder to alert him to his presence. "We need to leave, we'll just be in the way if we stay, let the man do his job," The soldier told him, leading the team leader to simply give a slight nod in acknowledgment and pull himself up from the chair. He gave one last look at his fiancé; he really didn't want to leave her, but he was willing to do anything to help her, and if leaving her would help her then that is what he would do.

The team inside the control room all turned their heads to the opening of where the corridor led off. The group had grown since Riley and Scott had joined them, Danny, Kate and the security team were now standing there too. They all watched as two more people wandered into the room, both with a head of brunette hair; Sam and Jayme. No one had a chance to even speak before Jayme was rushing towards Jess, checking to see the condition she was in. The sigh of relief was fairly noticeable as she found the strong pulse on the field co-ordinator's wrist; she was alive.

"She fainted," Connor stated, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, a sign of reassurance and friendship between the two.

"Did you get back into the system?" Jayme questioned; noticing that no one was working on the computers by the ADD.

"Yeah, I need to reboot a couple things, that's why the lights aren't on, I should probably do that now," Connor responded, giving her a small smile before wandering back over to the ARC monitors, working his way easily through the system he had claimed back. He had to admit, whoever had hacked in was seriously skilled, Connor had never fought so hard to gain control over a computer system before.

Jayme nodded, her eyes turning away from the man and searching the group before they fell upon Danny. They both shared a look, it was brief, and subtle, but Danny had received the message loud and clear; she needed to talk to him. The brunette slipped out from the crowd as Kate began a conversation with Sam, asking where they had been and if there were any more causalities or injuries. The noise drowned away as the ex-team leader and Jayme wandered deep into another corridor. There was a moment's silence before Jayme grasped the note in her pocket and handed it to him, his eyes holding a look of confusion before they lay on the ink etched across the paper.

Danny read the note over and over, the words circling in his mind as he realised the true meaning of it all. Jayme knew straight away that he understood what the note held; it was the same expression she had worn on her own face; they were faced with a new danger, Amanda had turned her attention on the two of them. Now that she knew, things were going to be a lot more difficult, and a lot more dangerous; the only benefit would be that Amanda would no longer be as focused on her main mission, which gave the two opportunities to stop her before it was complete. That is if they can stop her before she hurt them, or the people around them. Jayme took the note back, the silence remaining between them. Her eyes found the writing once more, giving it a last read over before she slid the paper back inside her pocket.

'_I know who you are now; Jayme Cutter and Danny Quinn. And I know for certain that you won't stop me. Don't you know that when you play with fire, someone will always get burnt?'_


	20. Chapter Twenty: Time Bomb

The heavy grey clouds flooded the sky, leaving only a dim light to soak through the windows of the ARC. Rain pounded against the floor, beating off windows, walls, pavements; creating a steady beat in the outside atmosphere. It had been two days since the incident at the ARC, the creature incursion. A lot of cleaning up was necessary, but they had all fulfilled the task and the building appeared as good as new. It wasn't the same though. There had been nine fatalities and five injured employees; that was a loss that James Lester had found difficult to explain to the minister who demanded an explanation of recent events. He had no answers. No one did. That is except Danny and Jayme; they knew who was behind it, they were simply unable to inform anyone else. It was too risky. If people knew, then the mission would be interfered with by certain people who Jayme knew wouldn't take the news lightly, if they even believed it in the first place.

Keeping this little collection of information a secret wasn't too hard, until they had met back up with Becker and Matt in the control room. The look on the team leader's face was enough to break anyone's heart; he was completely destroyed, spending each night awake, waiting for news on Emily. Not being able to tell him who was responsible for nearly killing his fiancé wasn't easy at all. He deserved to know. Everyone did. Emily had been transferred to a more suitable hospital after the building was cleared of creatures, but Matt hadn't been allowed to see her yet, there was no news on her condition. They could only wait. Apparently it was too soon to tell whether there was any internal bleeding hiding away inside of her; and the trauma to the fetus wasn't clear yet. This drove Matt crazy, he needed answers, he needed to know if his fiancé was okay, he needed to know if his unborn child had survived. He just needed something.

Jayme stood in the gym, her arms folded, resting gently against her chest as she stared out of the window, her vision being blocked by the persistent rain and dull weather. She was leant against the wall, her shoulder pressed against the cold glass, sending chills across her skin.

"How's Matt doing?" The brunette questioned; finally tearing her eyes away from the scene outside and turning her attention to the soldier who lay across the exercise bench, placing the metal weights back onto the stands and sitting up at the sound of her voice. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin; he had been working out silently for a while now. Neither of them had been talking, truth was not many people had talked since the incident. The only time there had been full conversation was when everyone had reunited in the control room as they all caught up on the recent events. Then Matt and Becker had entered and the news was spread. Then more bodies were found. After that, no one could find anything to say, especially to the team leader. What made it worse was the lack of anomalies; one would have been really good right about now, it would have distracted the team from the reality of the situation.

"The same; not talking, just waiting for a call from the hospital," Becker told her; grabbing the towel from the floor and wiping the moisture from his face.

"God, I hope Emily's ok," She murmured, running her hands through her hair uneasily and folding them back against her chest. This was her fault. If she hadn't been stupid enough to let Amanda know who she was, then the incident at the ARC wouldn't have happened; Emily wouldn't have been hurt. No one would have been.

"Me too," The soldier stated, his voice gentle. He stood up from the weight bench and walked over to her, not knowing what to do or say to make things any better, no one did. The situation was too worrying; there was too much uncertainty, and no way to help. He especially didn't want to lose a team member, not again.

"It wasn't meant to happen like this," She whispered, taking in a deep breath before softly releasing it into the air, her eyes closing for a second as she did so.

"Like what?" He questioned, furrowing his brows slightly at the statement.

"I just mean… It shouldn't have happened, they shouldn't have gone alone, we didn't plan it out very well,"

"Hey," The soldier began, his voice soft as he brought her close to him, her head resting against his body, "It was no one's fault, things happen," He told her, placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead as he held her near. Jayme didn't have enough energy to resist. She didn't want to. It was just a sign of comfort, but all of this with Becker was what she had wanted to stay away from. Given the situation, she decided it was perfectly reasonable to receive comfort from a friend; it was what anyone would do. Yet for a moment, it was like nothing else mattered. It was simply him and her, the world a blur behind them. But it was short-lived. They pulled apart swiftly as footsteps came into focus, a man finding his way to the entrance of the room.

"Jayme, I need to talk to you," Danny stated, his voice abrupt; standing by the doorframe, watching the two with curious eyes.

"Yeah, okay," Jayme responded, sending a comforting smile to Becker before following Danny out from the gym and to the depths of a new corridor. "What is it?" She asked, looking up at the ex-team leader as she waited for answers.

"I found her," He announced, his voice calm, assertive.

"Amanda?"

"Exactly; I used the computers to trace where the hack signal came from, you know, when they hacked into the ARC's system-"

"And everything went to hell?"

"Yeah, but I've got location. We need to get there, now,"

"Okay, just give me a moment, I'll meet you down in the car park," Jayme told him, before rushing off in the opposite direction and finding her way to the main control room. Jess wasn't sat by the ADD; she was most likely making coffee. The brunette crouched down by the desk, pulling out the box she had asked Jess to keep there and lifted the lid up from it. Without a second thought, she slipped the knife into her boot and fixed some holsters to her thighs before fitting the pistols into place. If she was going to do this, she would do it right. The time for defenceless was over; these weapons had took her through a lot, and that was exactly why she wanted them now.

The woods they had driven into were thick, matched with the gloomy sky above cast a dark shadow over the area. Leafless branches shivered in the wind, looking like skeletal arms in the dim light. The chill air attacked every exposed piece of skin as Danny and Jayme moved out from the car, the sodden ground beneath them squelching with every step.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Jayme questioned, clear uncertainty filling her tone as she glanced around her. She couldn't imagine Amanda working in the middle of these woods; it didn't seem very likely in her mind.

"Positive, it's where the signal came from," Danny stated, "Over there," He pointed out, gesturing towards a building hidden behind a tree. It was built with brick, a little small, but not too shabby. It still didn't feel right, why would she work here? It was too small, there'd be no way she could do the things she was doing in here.

"Let's check it out then," Jayme announced, increasing her speed as she marched across the ground and to the location of the building. Danny charged up his EMD before following, matching his pace with the brunette and stopping in his tracks as they reached the wall of the structure. Jayme placed herself by the door, her fingers brushing over the pistol by her side as she silently nodded at Danny who was positioned on the other side of the door. She shifted her position, swiftly turning the handle of the metal door and swinging it open, aiming her pistols into the air, an action she hadn't performed in three years. But there was no one in sight. They moved further into the room, each step perfectly placed, their eyes searching the room for some sort of sign.

"There's nothing here," Danny muttered, lowering the weapon and taking another glance around. The place was empty, bookshelves were against the walls yet there were no books in sight, a couple battered chairs lay in dismay across the floor and one desk stood against the wall, no draws attached to it which ruled out any search necessary on the furniture.

"Doesn't this seem odd to you?" Jayme questioned, turning to face Danny, the tone of her voice leading him to know that she was on to something; she was trying to figure it all out.

"I guess; they probably just cleared out the room. It mustn't have been permanent,"

"No, that's not what I mean," Jayme began, turning in slow circles as she observed the room, "I know the building was small, but it wasn't this small. The dimensions aren't right, this isn't the full building," She stated, her attention changing to the bookshelf faced on the left wall, "There's more to it,"

Danny watched curiously as the brunette pushed the bare furniture from the wall, the wood clattering to the floor, splinters shooting out from it. She quirked her eyebrow briefly at him, lifting her pistol back up into the air as she turned the handle of a new door in her way. They entered the new room, glancing around, suspicion in their eyes, as they found more to what they were looking for. A laptop sat upon a desk by the side, various wires snaking their way around the room. Danny placed the EMD beside the laptop, leaving his hands free to type against the keyboard. After a few moments of silence, he looked back up to face Jayme, a knowing grin on his face.

"This is the laptop they used to hack into our system," He confirmed, a proud glint in his eyes as he told her so.

"I don't like this," Jayme murmured, shaking her head slightly as she collected her thoughts, ignoring Danny's new find, "Amanda's smart, ok? Way smarter than this. I mean she has to be to have the job and respect she has with the government,"

"Perhaps she's getting a bit sloppy,"

"No, that's not it. This kind of thing is her life, being sneaky, clever, outsmarting her opposition. Why would she make it so easy for us to find this?"

"Well, maybe she didn't expect us to find-"

Words were stopped as metal clashed against the doorframe, the swift click of locks following the sound. Jayme didn't even begin to speak before she was at the door, her hands flitting over the metal as she tried to open it.

"It's an automatic lock, controlled by a system of some sort," She informed, crouching down as she tried to slide her nail through the crack, "It's shut tight. It was probably activated by a laptop. I knew something wasn't right, she drew us here. She wanted us trapped. Damn it!" She shouted in frustration, her foot kicking straight into the metal door. She hopped slightly, shaking her foot through the air as the sharp pain ran through it quickly before ceasing into existence. Note to self; don't kick metal doors.

"Do you hear that?" Danny questioned, his ears suddenly alert to the small sound inside the room, turning his attention away from the irritated brunette.

"Hear what?"

He didn't reply. The ex-team leader was down on his knees as he flung draws onto the ground, each sound echoing through the room, before finding a metal box inside the desk. He lifted it out, placing it onto the surface. He didn't need to open it. He knew in his gut what it was. He knew what the noise, the ticking, belonged to. He knew what Amanda's plan was.

"Danny…" Jayme began, uneasiness resting in her tone. The ticking had reached her ears too. It wasn't long until she had realized the same thing Danny had done. He wasn't the only one who knew what the box held.

He clicked it open, his fingers lifting the lid over and behind the box. Their suspicions were confirmed. The timer ticked away, counting down from five minutes. It had been thirty seconds since the door had closed. That was what triggered the timer. It was all connected. That was her plan. Lying at the bottom of the container was a bomb. 


	21. Chapter Twenty-One: Breaking Out

Jess took a swift sip of her coffee before placing the mug onto the desk beside her. The liquid warmed her body, protecting her from the slight chill that lingered upon her skin. The weather today was awful, and she had gone and decided to wear a short skirt and blouse; not the best decision she had made, but she had to admit that it _was _a great outfit. The bright colours were the only cheery thing about the ARC today though, it was all too silent, no one was talking much, and she hated it like that. She just wished Emily would be okay; she just wanted to hear how her friend was doing. That would certainly put a lot of minds at ease.

"Are all the reports finished from two days ago, or will I have to cut your coffee breaks?" Lester questioned, turning up from behind Jess, causing the poor girl to jump.

She quickly recovered, replying to her boss with a calm voice, "Yes, they're all complete. I've just gotten the last one from Connor now," Jess stated; leaning down from her chair and pulling the stack of paper up from one of the shelves underneath the ADD. "Here," She added, passing him the reports he had been after. All of them explaining and evaluating the situation that had occurred two days ago; there were security reports, system reports, reports dealing with the deaths and injuries; it had ended up being a long couple days for everyone.

"Good," The man responded, his tone masked with his usual sarcasm and assertiveness. Just as he began to turn away, he found himself clearing his throat nervously and facing the field co-ordinator once more. "Any word on Emily?" He asked; his tone gentler now, but quiet, as if he could protect everyone from knowing he was a soft man underneath. In all fairness, some already knew, mostly the main ARC team; they had seen his gentle side at least once; it was just a very rare thing to happen.

"No, sorry,"

"Very well, get back to work," He instructed, before heading back up to his office and sorting through the new pile of reports he was now in possession of.

Jess, on the other hand, didn't really know what to do. There were no anomalies, she had checked through the system twice to ensure it was working properly, and she had completed all reports that needed doing. For the moment, there was simply nothing she had to do. That is until the familiar voice of the Captain came into focus, wandering through into the main control room and towards herself and the ADD, "Hey, Jess, have you seen Jayme?"

"Nope; why, is everything alright?" Jess questioned, spinning around on her chair once then stopping again as she faced Becker.

"Can't find her; she walked off with Quinn to talk about something, and now they're both gone,"

"I'm sure they're fine, no need to get paranoid over it," Jess stated; a teasing tone in her voice as she spun around once more on her chair.

"Can you do me favour?"

Jess stopped spinning, steadying herself on the desk as she looked up at the soldier, "Yeah, anything,"

"Can you check the security cameras, see where they went after they left the gym,"

"Sure, if it'll stop you clenching your fist," Jess responded, glancing over at his hands before turning back to face the monitors and fulfilling the task he had set her, a smug smile playing on her lips.

"What?"

The field co-ordinator tilted her head back briefly, "You clench your fists when you're nervous," She informed; sending him a smile, her tone rather matter-of-fact.

"I do _not_ clench my fists when I'm nervous," Becker retorted, his pitch rising slightly in denial.

"Of course you don't,"

"I don't!"

"Becker, we can argue about this all day or you can watch the camera footage I found," She suggested; gesturing towards the security feed she had finally come across, showing the brunette joining Danny in the car park and borrowing one of the ARC vehicles, then driving away.

"Can you trace the car's whereabouts? All the ARC vehicles are hooked into the system, right?"

"Yep, just give me a moment," Jess told him, her fingers moving swiftly across the keys. Becker had lost track of what she was typing the moment she started, it was way too fast for him to even comprehend.

The only thing that broke his attention away from her rapid typing was Jess murmuring to herself as she found her way to the car's location, "That's strange,"

"What is it?" The soldier questioned, resting his hands on the desk and leaning against it as he viewed the screen she was using.

"It's in the middle of some woods, Lakerfield Woods to be correct. I wonder what they're doing there,"

"Can you send the co-ordinates to my car?"

"You're going after them?"

"I just like to know where my team members are, and what they're doing, that's all,"

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that it's Jayme,"

"Can you send them or not?" Becker questioned; his tone becoming slightly irritated. It didn't really have anything to do with Jess; he simply wanted to know what was going on. He had a strange feeling about it all, as if something bad was going to happen. But that was crazy, right?

"Yeah, they'll be in the navigation system by the time you're down there," Jess replied, not turning around to look at him, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

He let out a small sigh, realising that she hadn't liked the way he had questioned her, it was a stupid move to pull towards Jess anyway, everyone knew that she didn't tolerate that kind of tone from anyone, "I didn't mean to snap, Jess. You know I think you're brilliant, right?"

"It doesn't hurt to say it a little more often," She stated, smiling at the man, knowing she won that little conversation. Not that she could try and stay mad at Becker for long, he was like a brother to her; they always argued or had their little snippets, but they could never dislike each other.

"I'll try and remember that, thanks Jess," And that was the last thing she heard from him before he had found his way down to the vehicle and began the drive, following the directions that appeared on his navigation system, working his way over to where Jayme had disappeared to. It wouldn't be a long drive, and they hadn't been gone long, he would most likely find them straight away.

In the meantime, Jayme was using all of her force to try and penetrate the locked metal door, sending powerful kicks towards it, just not strong enough. The timer had worked its way down to two and a half minutes. Time was running out. Danny had tried to disarm the bomb, but even he wasn't an expert at it; it didn't help when he realised that the bomb may have a trigger mechanism linked in with the disarmament. They couldn't risk it. Instead he was trying to find alternative ways out, feeling for any possible soft spot in the wall or on the floors.

"This is useless, Jayme," Danny muttered, sending his foot straight through a chair in frustration as he finished his search.

"Would you rather sit around and wait for death?" Jayme retorted, resting her hands against the cold metal as she took in quick breaths, recovering from the attempt to break through the door.

"What else are we meant to do? You were right. She's not stupid, she knew exactly what she was doing the whole time, and she wouldn't have made a way to escape this room,"

"No one's perfect, Danny. Everyone has flaws, which means that every plan they make must be flawed in some sense, no matter how small. There _has_ to be a way to get out of here. I am not letting her win,"

"I don't want her to win as much as you do, but look at us. Look at what she's done. Tell me, how exactly do you expect to break out of here?"

"The walls are all brick, right?"

"Yeah,"

"And the floors are firmly built against the ground?"

"Yes,"

"Ok, I don't have a plan," She stated in surrender, deepening her breaths as she turned away from the door and towards the bomb. "Just over two minutes," She murmured, digging her nails into her hand as she clenched her fist. "There has to be way out of this,"

"There might be, but it's not like we have all the time in the world,"

"Well thanks for that bit of news, Danny, I honestly thought we did," The brunette stated; her voice heavy with the kind of sarcasm that wasn't helping anyone, it wasn't helping him or her. She wandered over towards the bomb, her eyes watching the timer as it ticked away.

Two minutes.

"Check the ceiling," Jayme instructed, glancing over at the ex-team leader for a moment and then up at the roof above them. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had left. Danny followed her gaze, and rose up onto the desk, his hands etching out across the ceiling surface, searching for something, anything. Time was running out.

One minute, thirty seconds.

Desperation. Anxiety. Worry. Anger. Regret. Everything. Nothing. It was all that they felt, and all that they didn't. It wasn't a feeling; having death breathing down their neck wasn't something to fear, yet it certainly wasn't something to feel comfortable with. Twice in three days Jayme had been face to face with death. She hadn't let Amanda win the first time, and she definitely wasn't letting her win this time.

Danny pushed the desk across the ground, the sharp scream of wood against floor echoing through their ears. The wood was smooth on his hands, easy to move; it was the desperation swimming through his veins that made it feel difficult. He wasn't going to let Jayme die; he wasn't going to let himself die: they had a mission to do. If they were blown up, who would stop Amanda? It would simply lead to more deaths. Innocent deaths.

One minute.

Time was ticking away. Everything was floating into nothingness; like leaves blowing through the wind, swirling through the air in circles, in spirals. But no one sees it. No one knows. It was simply the two of them in a room; no one aware of the situation they had fell into.

"Anything?" The brunette questioned, as she watched the timer inside the box, attached to a bomb, a bomb that would initiate in less than a minute.

Forty seconds.

The surface quaked beneath his fingers, and for a second, he stopped everything. That is until his fist pounded against the ceiling, trying to shake it free, trying to find a gap, an escape. Jayme's eyes shot up; suddenly alert to the section of ceiling that Danny was breaking; a weak part of the structure, a soft spot. It would only be lucky if they broke out in time, if they could squeeze through the gap and jump from the explosion before the seconds ticked away then they would stand a chance. The question was; could they do it in time?

Becker's hands gripped the steering wheel, so tight that the skin around his knuckles was slowly turning white. He just didn't know why. He had a strange feeling about this whole thing. Something that Danny told Jayme had led them to venture into the very woods he was now driving through, but why? The wind nipped at the windows of the vehicle, whistling through the cracks at the top of the glass. He carried on driving, following the route where freshly laid tyre tracks were made, embedded into the sodden ground. His mind flashed through a thousand thoughts, attempting to figure out the situation; what would they need in these woods? Why were they here? What did they want?

He pressed the accelerator down further, his gaze flickering between the path ahead and the navigation system; he was approaching the ARC vehicle; it wasn't far now. The lights shone through the wind, the rain, penetrating the dim light of the woods, the sky grey above, he couldn't see the car but he knew he was only moments away. Time was ticking away ahead, seconds falling into the zero mark, so close to finalising the initiation. Becker's lights glinted against something on the road ahead, metal. It must have been the vehicle. He was almost there.

He didn't have a chance to reach it though, the sound travelled to his ears before he was able to comprehend anything else. It was as if reality faded away, his heart stopping as his eyes found the fiery explosion, the thick smoke, wood and brick flying into his path. The atmosphere around him was numbed out, like slow motion was overtaking him and everything around him. The brakes were pulled into action; the vehicle skidding against the mud and decreasing to a standstill on the road. Wearing a feeling detachment from his own body, he frantically tried to find the handle beside him, swinging open the car door and rushing out. He ran, feet squelching through the mud, water splattering up around him as he rounded the corner. His legs unwillingly stopped as he did so, his eyes falling upon the scene in front of him. The remains of what appeared to be a building were etched out across the ground, debris and flames covering the view. He was frozen, unable to move. All that raided his mind, all which rushed through him was Jayme; if he lost her again, it would end his world, bring his existence to no meaning.

Something stirred, a groan falling through the air. He didn't wait. The soldier rushed into the mess, soon finding himself face to face with his ex-team leader, Danny. Bloody. Bruised. But alive. Neither said a word, Becker had already moved on, patting his shoulder in a desperate attempt to show that he did care; he just needed to also find Jayme.

"Where is she?" He questioned, the distress clear in his voice as he turned back to face Danny.

"I don't know, we got out of the building, but then everything exploded, I didn't see where she was thrown,"

He acknowledged Danny's response with a brief nod before returning to the debris, "Jayme!" His voice echoed through the crackling flames, calling out to the brunette, hoping she was okay. His feet stumbled slightly as he rushed across the ground, taking no notice of the wreckage in place.

Her mind was fuzzy, disorientated from the state she had fallen into. Her head was spinning, as if water was forcing its way around her mind, swirling any clear thinking she could have had. As every piece of her being began to connect together once more, she twitched her fingers, reaching out into the wet ground beneath her. Gripping the soil, she tried to find the strength necessary to rise from the floor, only to collapse into herself in a failed attempt. It was then that she suddenly became aware of the atmosphere around her. The smoke buried its way into her senses, the thick burning smell suffocating her like a sharp hand tightening around her life, constricting her. The silky smooth texture of blood lingered in her mouth, the metallic taste causing her to instantly spit it out, ridding the flavour from inside of her. For a moment, the icy air made its way to her, allowing a clear breath before it was chased away by the smoke again. Her fingers dug further into the ground, and once her eyes had finally adjusted to the sights ahead of her, everything from the incident was remembered. First the bomb. Then the explosion. Now the aftermath. Turning over onto her back, she was finally able to push the wood from above her legs, slipping it into the soaked ground beside her. Numbing out the pain that shot through her, she rose to her feet, her muscles taking a few seconds to regain strength and hold her up properly. A gasp escaped her as she was engulfed in a hug, taking her completely off guard as warms arms wrapped themselves around her. If it wasn't for the aching and soreness that fired around her body, she could have smiled. Immediately she was released, hands holding her shoulders, the face of a certain soldier coming into focus. His eyes searched, checking injuries that she held. This gave her a chance to figure out the same thing. The brunette pressed her fingertips to her forehead, a deep slash across the skin stinging as she made contact, bruises formed around her hands, her arms. The main thing was that she was alive.

"Danny..." She managed to murmur, her questioning tone allowing Becker to realise exactly what she was trying to say. He dropped his hands, shifting out the way to show an equally bruised and battered man leaning against a tree not far from them. Through the pain, he sent her a smile. Never would Jayme be able to understand how he could show such a gesture through a time like this, but she appreciated it too much to question it.

"I'm so glad you're alive," The soldier told her, his tone floating gently to her ears, his voice soft and relaxing, leaving a warm fuzzy feeling inside the pit of her stomach.

"Glad to hear it," She whispered, before beginning to walk away from the scene, Becker following beside her. She just wanted to be away from it. Once they reached Danny, he joined, the three wandering back towards the soldier's car, enabling them to drive back to the ARC where no doubt, there would be a lot of questions. Becker himself had thousands of questions he wanted answers to, but he would wait, it wasn't the most suitable time right now. One thing was for certain though, everyone would be receiving many answers that day, some more unexpected than others. 


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two: Unseen Truth

Déjà vu, that's exactly what this whole situation felt like. Lester was sat against the chair behind his desk, hands clasped in front of him as he held his gaze on the two people across from him. It had been exactly like it was when they came back into the present. The team wanted answers, and Danny and Jayme were reluctant to give them. Even when they averted their eyes, they could feel the boss' making contact with them, watching the two until they would decide to speak. Becker, Connor and Jess were stood in the back of the office, both intrigued by the possible answers and nervous of the outcome, nervous for their two friends. Matt was absent from the scene, shut away in his office, his eyes planted on the phone placed on his desk; waiting for the hospital to call.

It had been one and a half hours since the minor incident, the explosion. Danny and Jayme had been treated at the medical bay in the ARC; cuts and scrapes being bandaged or plastered, checked for broken bones at which they were lucky to not have. Only painful bruises and grazes were the final result of it all.

"What is going on between the pair of you? Does it all have to do with this Amanda girl?" Lester questioned, being the first to break the silence as he began with the many questions he had swimming around his mind.

One glance was shared between the ex-team leader and the brunette before any words were spilled, "It does," Jayme answered, her voice sounding weird to her own ears as her mind begged to not reveal any information. It was too late. They weren't getting out of this now. Not after this incident. They all knew there were secrets between the two; these secrets had to be uncovered.

"Who is she? And don't even think about dismissing it with a vague comment. I know you know, please do explain,"

Once again another look was shared, as if it were the safest way of communicating before they said something that they couldn't take back. "They deserve to know, we can't exactly keep it a secret anymore, look at us," The brunette stated, her gaze firmly placed on Danny, who was most likely contemplating the result of telling them everything.

"Ok," He responded, leaning back against the chair to let Jayme tell her part, before he stepped in with further details that the two were hiding from the team.

"I first found Amanda a year ago; she was through an anomaly in the early 1900's. I wandered upon her in a forest, and I instantly knew she wasn't from there; for starters her clothes were completely wrong for that time but to be fair the main give away was the mobile she had in her hand. So I followed her, curiosity and all that nonsense. When I went after her through an anomaly that was open, I fell back into the present. And that was when I overheard a phone call between her and some person, I don't know who; they mentioned anomalies, and power, and creature control, stuff like that. Anyway, I kept on her trail, subtly of course, and dug as far as I could to figure out who she was; found the information I needed. Seven months later I met Danny in the Pliocene; not quite sure why Amanda was in there, I think she just likes travelling through anomalies, picking up ideas; it's only occasional that she actually wants something from that era. Told Danny about it all, took a lot of convincing since he knew about me and my mother, and Philip, let's just say it was a _long _conversation, but he believed me in the end, and he helped me track Amanda. Now we're here, and we know most of her plan, excluding the in-depth details," Jayme explained, no longer gliding over the fine points of her story; she had told them all about how she came across both Amanda and Danny, she told them the truth.

"But that doesn't answer my other question, who is she?"

Danny glanced over at the brunette for a split second before turning his attention onto Lester, "She's an agent,"

"Double agent to be correct," Jayme added, keeping her focus on the boss in front of her.

"An agent?" Lester questioned, finally becoming more interested in the information; this being evident by the way he leaned forward, placing his clasped hands onto the desk.

"She's MI5," Danny informed the curious Lester, taking a swift look at the faces behind him, looking more confused than when they had entered the office. This whole thing created more questions, not less.

Lester's voice brought the ex-team leader's focus back to him, "Anything else about her?"

"The thing about Amanda Croft is that she's a highly respected black ops agent in MI5. She's got one of the highest classifications in the business, she's a ghost; she goes in undercover on missions and certainly gets the job done. Problem being she copies the intel and passes it onto a certain terrorist organisation; run by a man named Ramon Martínez, someone who you really don't want to mess with. That's who she's a double agent for,"

"He's not the worst of them though; Antonio Rodríguez is the guy you don't want to get mixed up with, Ramon's right hand man. He's manipulative, cunning, deadly," Danny stated, straightening himself up from the casual position he was originally in.

"Where do these two men come into it?"

"We don't think they do, we haven't seen them anyway. Considering the work they do, we can't be sure that they aren't hiding in the shadows. The thing Amanda wants is power. Recently, she obtained certain future technology; it enables the ability to control creatures, their minds. It's how the ARC was infiltrated."

"So you knew who had done this and you didn't say anything? Nine people are dead!"

"It wasn't supposed to happen. We had no way of knowing how to stop it, or that she was doing this! We didn't even know she knew about us until it happened,"

"Well clearly she does, and she doesn't seem to be going soft on you. First the incursion in the ARC, then a bomb; she wants you dead, and the pair of you seem to be acting rather reckless over the situation,"

"Reckless?" Jayme questioned, feeling slightly offended by the comment, "How the hell are we being reckless? Time's running out, we have to stop her, and that's what we're trying to do!"

"Well at least you're finally being honest. Although this information earlier would have been a big help," Lester stated, dismissing Jayme's abrupt response, watching the pair carefully. "I'll inform the Minister immediately and we'll get this situation dealt with,"

"No!" Both Danny and Jayme responded in unison, their volume rising slightly as they spoke.

The brunette straightened up before explaining the flare-up, "Do you really think we just didn't tell you? We couldn't. If the Minister is informed then he will involve MI5; that can't happen!"

"Why exactly not?"

"Think about it. She's a respected undercover agent who seemingly can't do anything wrong. She's their greatest asset. We're two people with not the most stable past. He lost his brother, became obsessed then disappeared through the anomalies. And I'm a missing person from a foster home whose mother manipulated her and then later died. On top of that, I've also been in the past for years. Who's going to believe us? They'll use the defence that our sanity has deteriorated over the years with such a complicated past,"

"I'm ordered to inform him of these situations, it's for the safety of others,"

"It's suicidal! It'll give Amanda protection; they'll protect her over us. Is that how we're supposed to stop her? By letting her complete her plan? By letting her kill innocent people? This is way bigger than some obligation you have to the Minister. We didn't come here for help; we're not working with you because there's no other way; that was just how it happened. We were after her before we came back here, before we had a little reunion. How can you possibly look over all of that and tell the Minister,"

"It won't happen like that,"

"Look, I can understand why you think that; but you're wrong," Jayme stated, leaving the room to fall into silence; no one knowing how to respond. She stood up from the chair, following Danny and left the office, there was nothing left to say. It was their decision now. The two couldn't do anything else to change their minds.

Connor stepped forward from the wall of the office, everyone's eyes turning to him as he decided to break the silence, "What are you going to do?" He asked Lester. In all fairness, he wasn't even sure what _he_ would do in that situation, it was definitely complicated.

"What I have to do. I'll inform the Minister, it's out of our jurisdiction now, I can't ignore that,"

"But what if they're right?" Jess questioned, glancing between Connor and Lester, "What happens then?"

"It's not my call," Lester responded, his voice softer now. He had made up his mind, he couldn't deny his obligations; it was how he worked his way up to this position. He was just hoping it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, not everyone had those same views on the situation.

"This is bullshit," Becker muttered, before wandering out from the office, gaining quite a variety of looks from Lester, Connor and Jess inside the room. He didn't care. Not right now. The soldier stormed down the steps, walking through the main control room and following the brunette down the corridor. She paused just ahead, spinning around to see who was following her. Not that she couldn't guess beforehand; who else would it be?

"What do you want, Becker?" Jayme questioned, standing in the same spot whilst the soldier caught up with her, facing her, watching her with warm, brown eyes.

"I'm on your side, Jayme. I'll do whatever I can to help you guys stop Amanda, I'm done sitting on the sidelines. You've let the truth out, let me help,"

"You don't want to be mixed up with this, she doesn't go lightly on people who are after her,"

"Are you saying you're worried about me?"

"I'm saying I don't want to see you get hurt,"

"I'm more worried about your safety in all of this. You were nearly killed today, and again two days ago,"

"I can handle myself,"

"You always say that. But can you really?" Becker questioned, cutting straight through the wall she had built up around herself. She was just as vulnerable as everyone else around her, it didn't matter how many times she said she could handle herself or that she knew what she was doing; he knew her better than that. She was just trying to convince herself that she didn't have a weakness, as if that would help her win.

"Does it matter? I don't want to see you get hurt,"

"Maybe it's someone else's turn to protect you. You don't have be strong 24/7, Jayme. No one's going to think any less of you. You can't handle yourself all the time, sometimes things are way harder than that, sometimes you have to know when to accept help. You were getting better with the whole emotion thing, you opened up, and that was great, but you can't go back in circles. You have to remember to stay open, don't shut everyone out, don't close up; trust me; you're at your strongest when you know how to balance your emotions. Please just let me help you, I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you and I wasn't there to stop it,"

"Nice speech, been working on it long?" Jayme questioned, smiling slightly at Becker as he finished talking.

"As long as you heard what I meant then it was worth it,"

"Whenever people get involved in what I'm doing, someone ends up getting hurt, people die, Becker,"

"That's not your fault. You have to let us help you, you have to let me help you,"

"Fine; but there isn't anything to help me with right now; we're at a dead end at the moment, I'll let you know if that changes,"

"Promise?" The soldier questioned, making sure she was being serious about the whole thing. He did want to know if anything changed, he wanted to protect her. And he knew she kept her promises; after all she had done so three years ago when he had asked her not to go inside the New Dawn building, when he had asked her to wait for him, and she did.

Jayme reached out, taking his hand into her own, pressing a gentle squeeze into the skin. For all it was just a simple gesture, both Becker and Jayme couldn't help the feeling that their stomachs had flipped at the contact. "I promise," 


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three: Dark Intentions

One whole week had passed. One week since her failed hit on Danny Quinn and Jayme Cutter; looks like they were smarter than she had previously assumed. That was something she needed to remember. Never assume. Never underestimate the opposition. That tends to create surprises, and she hated surprises. Which was pretty much why she hated those two people in the first place; it had all started a few days before her attack on the ARC, Christian had come to her with news, news that they were being followed, that their plans were falling apart. It had all been through one little hack; one that Christian had managed to pick up on whilst checking through government files, and after that it was simply a means of figuring out the new players.

Danny Quinn; former police detective constable, previous leader of the ARC team, classified as MIA until a few weeks ago when he resurfaced, returning to his job in the government. Aged forty-four, born circa 1969.

Jayme Cutter; former missing person, her file stated she was still missing; it was only the ARC team that knew the truth, well, them and Amanda. She was also a temporary field agent of the ARC team three years ago, and now she was back in the game. Aged twenty-two, born circa 1993.

Christian Turner, her faithful scientist, and computer genius, had revealed their identities to her after tracking them down, breaking through several government firewalls to do so. It was worth it. Now she knew that she was being followed, which meant taking certain precautions, and dealing with their part in all of this. She wanted them dead. But that could wait. Right now, she had other things to do, the next step in her mission; the demise of Ramon Martínez.

"Croft, you ready?" Pierce questioned, standing in the doorway, gun strap slung casually over his shoulder, the usual demeanour of this particular man.

Amanda smiled; a devious smile that showed everything she felt towards the darker intentions of her plan; she was all too ready and willing to kill Ramon, to end his life and his reign for good. This was a move so carefully planned out that she knew it wouldn't fail. Christian would set off the security alarms, allowing Amanda and Antonio to enter the building and go into Ramon's office; he trusted them, at least he did for now, not that it mattered after today. Her team would release the jaguars into the building, they would kill any stragglers, and then they would be programmed to enter the office and kill Ramon. It was the perfect plan. And it was hers.

The brunette scientist sat casually against the office chair, playing with the small knife on the desk with one hand whilst he waited for Amanda's appearance on the first security camera. Once she was outside Ramon's building, he would initialize the alarm, alerting people inside to a breach in security, then they would exit the building, it was protocol for that kind of alarm. Ramon would stay behind, as would some of his colleagues, it was only a matter of time before they were all killed off.

On cue, the red van pulled up onto the path not far from the building, only the number plate in view of the camera, exactly the signal they had previously planned. With a swift swipe of the keyboard, the red light lit up on his screen, activating the security system inside the building. He switched screens, watching from the cameras in the corridors; everyone was evacuating, looks like things were going to run smoothly for them after all.

"Notify me when everything's in place," It was Amanda's voice, commanding and full of authority, a voice that rarely showed emotion, it was cold and firm in front of most people; she didn't want to seem vulnerable in the presence of anyone who may use it as a weakness and overthrow her. Christian admired that, but he also felt that it was too much of a form of self-destruction. Cut yourself off from the world and emotions for too long and you may as well be dead. Not that he would ever tell her that, it would earn him no respect, and respect from Amanda was what you needed if you wanted to remain in her team.

His brown eyes kept focus upon the screens, flicking through them as he watched every inch of the building being evacuated. Soon, there would be no one left, only the people who they wanted dead; that was a victory in their eyes.

"It's time," Christian stated, moving back to the first camera, watching as the familiar blonde headed into the building, guns in holsters, walking with a confidence that couldn't be competed with. Antonio was by her side, ready to help murder a man who used to be a trusted friend of his; Ramon still believed he was, Amanda's team knew the truth. Antonio had betrayed Ramon, he wanted control with Amanda, and he didn't want to take orders any longer, soon enough he wouldn't have to. Pierce and a couple other ex-military soldiers unloaded the jaguars from the van, the nerve control technology embedded deep in the skull, linked in with the central nervous system; these creatures had to obey their commands, the technology overrides their instincts and forces them to follow orders. Some may say it's inhumane, Christian believed quite the opposite, using the anomalies to access technology like this was amazing, the possibilities were endless.

The alarm siren echoed through the almost abandoned building, ignored by both Amanda and Antonio as they marched through the corridors. They knew exactly where they were heading, to Ramon's office, the very place Christian had stated he was currently residing, from the information given by the security cameras. They took no hesitations as they walked through the building, anyone who saw them were soon eliminated by the creatures following close behind the two. It felt easy, walking in, taking lives, completing their mission; it was everything Amanda wanted, getting Ramon out of her way was exactly what she wanted.

Her fingers twisted around the cold metal handle of the door, the one thing standing between her and Ramon Martínez. With one swift glance at the man beside her, she turned the handle, pushing the door open, hitting the walls of the office with a firm impact. And there he was. It was as simple as that. Amanda caught eye contact the second she revealed herself from the office doors. Ramon was sat against his office chair, his black hair was short and ever so slightly curled, his natural skin was tanned from his Spanish origin, and he wore a rather intimidating demeanour, luckily, it was a one that both Amanda and Antonio were familiar with, it had little to no affect on them now.

"I take it you're responsible for this?" Ramon questioned, keeping his composure calm. Antonio had suspected he would, he always knew how to remain in control no matter the situation, he was a man who never showed fear; it was rather unbelievable at times.

"How'd you guess?" Amanda queried, taking a few steps forwards, keeping her eye contact solid, not letting her guard down once.

"You think I don't know when one of my own betrays me," He responded, "From you I expected it, Antonio on the other hand, I'm disappointed," Ramon continued, watching the two carefully.

"Sorry to disappoint," Antonio stated, leaning against the office wall rather nonchalantly, choosing to stay on the sidelines of this step in the mission, rather than stand in the line of fire.

"So what's the master plan?" The blonde questioned, raising her eyebrow at her former boss. If he knew she was going to betray him, then how was he planning on getting out of it?

"There's a team in the building ready to attack once there's any sign of a struggle. I'm giving you the opportunity to leave now and never come back. Your choice,"

"You underestimate me, Ramon," Amanda began, averting her gaze towards the two jaguars who walked slowly into the room, growling at the man behind the desk, their green eyes not leaving his body. "There are more of these creatures in the building, they've killed all life inside this building, and trust me, they won't miss anyone, they're ordered not to,"

Ramon seemed to ignore this little response, and Amanda herself, instead he seemed to be deep in thought, until a small smile fell onto his lips, "I can't believe I didn't realise it before, Antonio. I must say you're incredibly clever, it's a shame I won't see how it all plays out," Ramon stated, looking straight at Antonio, a stare that made Amanda slightly confused. In fact, she was rather disappointed that he didn't seem to be congratulating her, not that she needed his approval of her plan, she just didn't enjoy being ignored.

"What's he talking about?" She questioned, turning to face Antonio.

"I have no idea," He responded, keeping his voice composed, "Not that it matters, kill him,"

Amanda turned away, facing Ramon once again before speaking again, "You heard him, Christian," The blonde spoke, her voice travelling through the ear pieces, all the way to the brunette scientist, who initiated the new commands effective immediately. "Goodbye, Ramon," These were the last words she spoke before walking away as the jaguars leapt into the air, landing directly onto her former boss, sinking their claws deep inside of him.

"I'll meet you down at the van," Amanda stated, glancing at Antonio swiftly before wandering out from the office, and out of the building. She had done it. She had eliminated the very person she needed to, Ramon Martínez.

As the blonde left the room, Antonio moved over to where Ramon lie, blood pooling around his body. The jaguars stood beside him, with nothing left to do now that they had completed their orders. He knelt down at the side of him, watching the man as his eyes opened slightly, the pain evident across his features.

"I guess it was you who I underestimated," Ramon murmured, coughing at the struggle of speaking, "I'm right, aren't I? She's a part of _your_ plan, not the other way around,"

"It seems that _you'll_ never know," Antonio responded, watching the man carefully as he took his last breaths, before his head lolled to the side, and Antonio knew he was gone. He glanced up at the creatures for a second before leaving the room, following down the same corridors until he found himself outside with Amanda, the jaguars soon joining them. Pierce opened up the van doors, leading the creatures inside and locking it up, ensuring that if anything did go wrong, they would be securely held.

Christian watched from the room he was inside, the computer screen showing the security cameras around the building. That step of the mission was over, and now they were all outside ready to leave. What frustrated the brunette was what exactly had Antonio whispered to Ramon before he died, the camera couldn't pick up quiet speech, only the normal conversations; but were the whispers simply last words? It made sense; Antonio had played his part extremely well, keeping the trust, friendship and loyalty between them until the very moment when it no longer mattered. Ramon had trusted Antonio right to the end, even when he knew Amanda had betrayed him, he never suspected his right hand man. That was an extraordinary feat on his part. Christian figured the whispers didn't matter, why would it? Antonio could be trusted, he had been a vital role in the mission from the beginning, he was the reason Amanda had made it this far in the first place.

"Christian, everything's finished, we're on our way back now," Amanda's voice spoke through the ear pieces, still composed and full of authority, despite the major changes in her life right now. It may have been something she had wanted, but it was still a big change, Ramon was a man she had respected for a while, until she was shown the light. Now, he was gone, and she was one step further to acquiring the power of the anomalies, and the government. With Ramon out of her way, she had less competition, people would fear her position more, and power would be easier to obtain. Things were looking up. The only thing that crossed Christian's mind as he thought over Amanda's new position in the mission was what they were going to do with a certain problem they were currently faced with. How exactly were they going to deal with Danny Quinn and Jayme Cutter?


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four: Scottish Escape

The ARC was silent, but far from peaceful. The tension was high at times, and then low at others; no one was quite sure how to act. Jess, Connor and Kate had fallen back into their normal routine; they chose to not be involved with the stress of the current situation. Becker was barely talking to Lester; he still found his decision to inform the minister completely unreasonable. Matt wasn't sure what to do with the whole situation, and he was far from letting his mind think about it. His thoughts were on Emily. She was alive. She had a better chance of survival now. The doctors had told him so. Yet the state of the pregnancy still couldn't be properly determined. There was life inside of her, but the doctors had informed him that there was a high chance it wouldn't survive, not with the internal damage. He wouldn't dwell on that fact. He couldn't bring himself to. All he could do was focus on her being alive, and that he could visit her in just a couple days. Seeing her face again would bring him more joy than he could comprehend, it would complete him.

Then there was Danny and Jayme, both were restricted in movement and action, everything they did was watched, they had a difficult time trying to get away from it all. Lester had informed the minister, the minister had informed MI5, and the head of MI5 had visited the ARC. Not the most pleasant visit. There had been a lot of shouting, a lot of defending, a lot of offending, and he wouldn't believe either of them. He wouldn't believe any of it. It was just as Jayme and Danny had predicted; MI5 trusted Amanda too much to see what she was doing under their noses.

It was a Thursday morning; a little over a week ago Danny and Jayme had nearly been killed, by an explosion set up by Amanda. The brunette chose not to think about that incident; instead she was focused on figuring out what Amanda was up to, and how to get around MI5. She wandered into the ARC's main control room, a certain determination edged into each step; everything about her lately seemed so much more firm, focused, and Becker couldn't help but admire her persistence, he just worried that it would do more bad than good. Although, he did know why she was acting like this. The head of MI5, Robert Bristow, had been giving her an extremely tough time, and she found that every little thing she did was being questioned, she was certain that soon enough she would need permission to breathe in the same air as him. That comment from her had definitely amused the soldier, yet at the same time, he was simply glad they were talking again. After they sorted some of the things out between themselves, and after she told him the truth about why she was here, what Amanda was up to, and everything in-between, things seemed to get better. Everyone could see it. Yet no one would comment on it. Unfortunately, this raised the tension between Sam and him. He came to terms with the fact that he did deserve it; it was just that that didn't help.

"Anyone know where my favourite MI5 director is?" Jayme questioned, glancing around the main control room. Jess responded with a swift no, returning back to the screens in front of her, whereas Becker turned towards the brunette, lucky for her he knew the answer, and it would be good news, at least for a little while.

"He left, the office needed him, apparently there's news on the terrorist group they've been trying to track, the one you told them about, Ramon's organisation," The solider informed, moving over to her so that he didn't have to raise his voice.

"Wow, for a minute there I thought he decided to move in. Actually, I'm more surprised that he took that claim seriously, considering he assumed everything else was lies,"

Becker found it hard not to smile at her; the frustrated sarcasm in her voice was cute. Except, since when did he use the word 'cute'? And since when did he begin analysing everything about her? He quickly shook off that little intrusion in his mind, and continued, "Apparently he thinks that's the only thing at play here, he still believes the Amanda story was fake,"

"Yeah, well, some people can't see what's right in front of them," Jayme stated, glancing over at the various corridors around her, half-expecting Mr. Robert Bristow to appear out of from the shadows, it's what he enjoyed doing for the past week. Funny enough, she was sure he would have had more important things to do than watch a bunch of slightly dysfunctional dinosaur chasers, apparently he didn't.

The pair glanced over at the steps behind Becker as footsteps sounded through the room. Lester paused at the top, getting the attention of both the soldier and the brunette, "The director called, they have news on Ramon Martínez,"

"What about him?" Jayme questioned, walking straight past Becker and towards the steps, her mind completely focused on the man and news in front of her. This was the first piece of information that MI5 had given them. It was about time, especially considering how much they had intervened with the situation.

"He's dead,"

This caused Jess to even turn around and look at her boss. Jayme didn't speak. Becker stood watching the conversation, his gaze flickering between the brunette and Lester, almost as if watching a tennis match.

"How did he die?" The soldier queried, sending a swift glance around the room to see who was listening, there was Jess by the ADD, and Connor who must've only just entered the room since he was stood at the corridor opening, his face filled with confusion.

"It was Amanda wasn't it?" Jayme questioned, her eyes not leaving Lester's. She was so certain on this belief that it was Amanda that it seemed more of a statement than a question, nevertheless, Lester treated it as something needing answered.

"MI5 say it wasn't, but from what you've told me, I would presume so," He responded; and from the way he spoke then, Becker realised that Lester really was on Jayme's side, something he had doubted from the minute he had involved MI5. It was a relief; good to know that he wouldn't be forced to choose between the girl he cared about, and the man who had always had his back through the entire progression of the ARC.

"I don't know what she's playing at," The brunette murmured, mostly to herself. "Is anyone else dead? Antonio?"

"He's not, a few of the agents in the organisation are, apart from that, it looked like it was a personal hit on Ramon, and him only,"

"It makes sense I guess, if she's going to get power then it helps to eliminate the one man who had extreme superiority over her, and who wasn't afraid to kill her if it came to it," Jayme explained, glancing around the room at the people involved in the conversation, "I just didn't expect it to be so quick,"

"Well, this is all starting to feel like we have another Helen Cutter on our hands, how delightful," Lester announced, the sarcasm heavy in his voice, keeping his tone light-hearted; in a way this helped, not being burdened with the seriousness of these situations kept your mind clear without worry falling through.

"At least with Helen we didn't have restrictions from MI5," Connor added, walking further into the room, his mind now caught up with the recent news involving Amanda Croft.

"It's not really you who has the restrictions, Connor," Jayme stated, giving the man a glance before she sat herself up on the lab bench behind her, "It's me and Danny,"

The group averted their attention behind them, leaving Connor no time to respond, and listened to the familiar siren blasting through the ARC, alerting them to the new anomaly that had just opened, and waiting for directions and information. Within seconds of the sound, Jess's fingers were racing across the keyboard, pulling up everything she could obtain in relation to the anomaly.

"This is different," Jess murmured, glancing over at Connor before zooming into the map on the screens, focusing on the location of the anomaly.

"What's up?" Connor questioned, jogging over to the ADD and watching as the field co-ordinator pointed to the information presented.

"Anomaly in Scotland, or more specifically, the Loch Ness in the highlands," Jess informed, fulfilling the curiosity of the people around her. "Mid Jurassic,"

"I don't believe it!" Connor exclaimed; the excitement in his voice appeared difficult to contain, making a couple people smile in amusement, "It's exactly what Cutter always said, all of these legends about monsters or dragons originated from the creatures inside the anomalies! This must be what this is, Nessie is real; I knew it!" The man stated, acting like an enthusiastic eight year old who'd just been told they're going to Disney land. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed completely confused at his outburst, "Becker! You were there, when Cutter first figured it all out, when we met Sarah and the whole thing with the Sun Statue and the Egyptian god theory..."

It didn't seem as though Connor planned to stop rambling, being so caught up in the moment that he completely missed the slight change of expression from the soldier, something that only Jayme appeared to pick up on, simply because she happened to have glanced over at him in the right moment. The way his gaze flickered away from everyone, the way he forced himself not to weaken in front of anyone; it all came from the name 'Sarah'. Now, she wanted to know why. By the time she refocused on Connor, he had finished his attempt at explaining everything; Jayme simply concluded that he assumed the Loch Ness Monster to be real; from her own knowledge, she assumed maybe a genus of plesiosaur, it was the only thing that matched the believed description of the mythical beast.

"I take it I need to organise a train for you all to go to Scotland then, and then Connor can go chasing up all these myths and what have you," Lester stated from above the steps, before wandering to his office, muttering something under his breath as he went.

"Aw, I wish I was going with you guys," Jess announced, putting on a playful sad face, "Then again, it is really cold, and not the best place for heels, so maybe I'm better off here," She added, sharing a swift smile with Jayme before returning to her work.

"So, what do _we_ do if MI5 find out we left London without their permission?" The brunette queried, sliding off from the lab bench and leaning against it.

"C'mon, it'll be a nice surprise for them, be a good break as well," Danny stated; Jayme hadn't even realised that he'd entered the room, at least she wouldn't have to go searching every inch of the ARC to find him, he always managed to discover the strangest places to hang about in.

"As long as you leave before he comes back, then it'll be all good, right?" Connor questioned; the excitement still evident in the man's voice.

Jayme and Danny shared a quick glance and smile before turning back to face Connor, "Why not," The brunette responded; at least it would be a relief to get away from the ARC for a while, and she'd never been to Scotland before, so it looked like it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Once Lester had organised everything, Matt sorted a team out to travel up to Scotland and deal with the anomaly. He had already told Lester that he wasn't going, it was only a couple days until he would be allowed to see Emily so spending five days up in Scotland would mean he would have to wait even longer; that was something he couldn't do. Instead, he arranged for Danny to take lead, since he was already experienced in managing the ARC team, then there would be the Alpha security team Becker, Kate, Sam, Riley and Scott; and in addition to that, Connor and Jayme would go too. Jess would stay behind and assist them anyway she can from the ADD as well as coordinating the Bravo and Charlie security team, who would remain in London to deal with any anomalies that may occur while they're gone.

The train ride to Edinburgh wasn't too bad, in fact it was rather relaxing, seeing as they were able to just sit back and wait until they arrived. It was after they reached Edinburgh that the problem became clear; they would have to get a coach to Inverness in the highlands in order to travel to the Loch Ness; and then there would be a hotel waiting for them.

The team awakened as the coach fell to a stop; they had decided it would be more efficient if they got their sleep before they arrived so that they could deal with the anomaly straight away; unfortunately, they weren't expecting it to be so dark by the time they were there. Searching and dealing with an anomaly and possible incursion in the growing darkness would be next to impossible, however Danny insisted that it might be best to do a small search and at least attempt to locate it before anything bad happened. The possible incursion would be the difficult part; seeing as the Loch Ness was around 36km long and 3km wide.

Connor's smile dropped as he stepped out from the coach, glancing at the hotel in front of him; the Loch Ness Clansman Hotel. "We couldn't get a better place to stay?" He questioned, glancing around at everyone as they took their bags and headed towards the building.

"Budget cuts, mate," Danny stated, patting the younger man on the back before wandering past him and into the hotel. He waited until everyone was inside the lobby before announcing the sleeping arrangements. The chosen décor of the room seemed to be a topic of questioning, mostly seen from the raised eyebrow of Captain Becker. It seemed maybe a little too Scottish; the carpet filled with the pattern of a green and blue kilt. "Right, so let's just note that I did not arrange the rooms, and I would have definitely done it a bit different; Becker, you're with Riley and Scott in the triple single beds room; Jayme, Kate, and Sam, you're in separate bedrooms; and Connor, you're unfortunately in with me in the double single beds room. Everyone got it?" "Wait, why do they get separate rooms?" Connor questioned; his gaze flicking between the three girls, a slight jealous look on his face.

"There were only so many types of rooms left, and as Jess puts it, 'girls need their own space'," Danny responded, "Which left me stuck with you,"

"C'mon, we'll have a great time," Connor reassured, his smile beaming through the room.

"Yeah, Quinn, you'll have so much fun," Becker stated, sarcasm falling through the light-hearted tone that he used, earning him a glare from his ex-team leader. This was going to be a lot more hassle than it would be fun in Danny's opinion. An anomaly in one of the largest lakes in the UK, an impossible search for the possible incursion, and sharing a room with Temple; after surviving years in the past, it might just be the present that would kill him.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five: Behind The Myth

Danny glanced up as felt a hand gently touching his shoulder in greeting before the brunette sat opposite him on the boat. The sun hadn't yet began to peak over the horizon, indicating it was still early in the morning, but Jayme knew that the ex-team leader would be here, preparing the boat for the long day ahead. He always had a tendency to start on things before anyone else was around; there were some things he preferred to do alone.

"Good sleep?" Jayme questioned, smiling at the man who was currently leaning over the map of the Loch Ness, analysing sections of it around the now locked anomaly where they would be diving in search of possible incursions. It had been late last night when they arrived yet Danny insisted on going out into the large lake anyway, and locking the anomaly; it meant a decreased chance of any creatures, or any more creatures from coming through, then they could search for incursions in the morning, which was exactly what they were planning on doing.

"If you consider Connor counting sheep all night relaxing, then yeah, it was perfect," Danny stated, the obvious hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"C'mon, it couldn't have been that bad, Danny,"

"Did I fail to mention that it was out loud?" The man questioned, chuckling to himself, "I swear that man will stay a kid forever,"

"If Connor wasn't annoying, he wouldn't be Connor, I even know that. Besides, he's probably one of the bravest people I know, granted he's a complete kid at times, but he's smart, he'll do anything for the people he loves, I admire that,"

Danny nodded in mutual agreement before raising an eyebrow at him, "And is Becker another one of these brave people?" He queried, smirking at the brunette and grabbing a slice of toast from the plate beside him.

Jayme swiped the food out from between his fingers before he had a chance to take a bite, matching the smirk that the man had been giving her, "Grow up, Quinn," She responded, taking a bite from the toast, "And yes, he is one, all of you guys are, you all go up against these dangers and the world doesn't even know it, you don't get the credit you deserve,"

"Well that was actually sweet, little Cutter, considering it came from you," Danny stated in a teasing tone, earning himself a playful glare from the brunette, "But let's be serious for a moment, how are we going to handle this whole thing, you know with Amanda? We can run away to Scotland for as long as we like but it's not going to change the fact that once we get back, we have no way of stopping her,"

"You really know how to ruin a happy moment, don't you?" Jayme queried, glancing out across the lake behind her for a moment, "I'm working on it," She added, in response to his question, before taking another bite from the slice of toast in her hand.

"Yeah, well, I guess we can deal with that tomorrow, we still have a possible sea creature in this lake, and I'm not liking our odds at finding it,"

"Hey, I'll work on Amanda, you can work on that,"

"I'm still trying to figure out which one will be easier," Danny stated, grabbing the remains of the toast from the brunette and finishing it off, "Amanda or Nessie?"

"Please, don't say Nessie around Connor, he really thinks it is some sort of Loch Ness monster, you don't need to encourage him,"

"You don't think it's possible that the stories are from something coming through the anomalies?"

"I don't know, Danny. I guess I just always thought legends and myths were exactly that, legends and myths,"

The brunette watched as the large glowing sphere rose slowly into the dull morning sky, casting sunbeams in every direction, sending a streak of illumination across the dark lake. It had been twenty minutes since they'd set out into the Loch Ness; Danny had wanted everyone up and ready just before dawn, and that was exactly what he received. It would only be another five minutes or so until they were above the locked anomaly that lay situated under the icy cold water. The team knew straight away that this job wasn't going to be easy, Danny had made sure they did; the lake was after all around 36km in length and 3km in width; they were just hoping luck was on their side.

"Jayme?" A voice questioned from behind the brunette who was perched on the edge of the boat, looking out across at the horizon. The voice was familiar, too familiar, and there was no need to plant her own eyes on his face to know who was talking to her; the one soldier who didn't seem to want to leave her mind alone.

"What is it, Becker?" Jayme queried, smiling slightly as she spoke his name, a smile which vanished as quick as it had appeared.

"How are you?" The soldier asked, sitting down; the casual tone in his voice made her wish she could feel completely natural right now, to not have any form of dark cloud looming over her mind, to not have to deal with the stress of what her and Danny were up against; the only time she could even feel close to that kind of feeling was talking to the very man who had just sat down beside her, even then, it wasn't totally peaceful, she still couldn't forget.

"Do you always want to ask me that," The brunette responded, smiling to herself, "I wish I had an answer," She added, turning to face him for the first time since he'd wandered over, and leaning her back against the railing.

"I know how you feel," Becker stated, keeping his eyes on her for a little longer than necessary, observing every feature on her face almost subconsciously. He let out a breathy laugh as he pulled himself away, "I think we're all feeling a little bit lost right now," He told her, trying to regain the casual appearance that had disappeared only moments ago, choosing to look away from those blue eyes that were trying desperately to figure him out; he definitely was feeling lost, it was just that he felt slightly guilty that the feeling had nothing to do with the situation the ARC was in, more to do with the girl that was positioned a fraction away from him; their arms almost touching, only the fabric and that tiny bit of air that distanced them. It was then that Becker mentally slapped himself for being so observant; why did he have to pick up on the little things that drove him completely crazy.

"Yeah, I think this helps, you know, being in Scotland, away from all the mess back in London; it's a nice break, even if it means the problems haven't gone away, it's refreshing to see them just a little postponed for the time being,"

"You're right there," Becker responded, resting his back against the metal, his elbows hanging easily over the edge of the railings, exposed to the cold splashes of lake water that were disturbed by the travelling boat.

After a couple minutes of silent travelling, heading onwards towards the locked anomaly, the boat came to a gradual stop as Danny shut down the engine, leaving the vessel to rock gently against the icy water, the anomaly only a few feet away. The ex-team leader reappeared from the bridge of the boat, the last of the diving equipment in hand, and added them to the collection that Connor had previously started. Becker glanced back as Jayme stood up behind him, wandering towards the sets of equipment.

"Where do you think you're going?" The soldier queried, placing a gentle hand on her arm to stop her in her tracks; he kept his voice low, avoiding any attention that could be drawn to their conversation.

"I'm going down," The brunette announced, leaving no trace in her voice that she was in any way asking for permission.

"You don't have to, Jayme. We can handle it," Becker told her, gesturing towards the security team with a swift tilt of the head.

"I wasn't asking, Becker. Besides, I've had plenty of experience swimming in freezing cold lakes with a much higher threat level than this. I'm going down, you're not going to stop me; I don't need protecting," Becker didn't argue, she was way too stubborn for him to begin a reasonable debate on the matter, she knew what she wanted and when she knew what she wanted, she didn't let anything stand in her way. But if there is something in the lake, he wasn't going to let it hurt her; that was for sure.

"Alrighty' then," Connor stated; his voice high on the chipper side as he distracted the two out of their small talk, making it clear that he knew what they were talking about. He sent a quick smile their way before syncing the underwater cameras attached to the diving suits to his laptop, enabling him to see whatever his team members could.

Sam and Scott would be staying on the boat to ensure no one came near the locked anomaly, and Danny, Becker, Jayme, Kate and Riley would be diving into the lake to try and attract any possible creatures that had come through. Once everyone was suited up, and the condition of the air tanks were double-checked, the five team members stood on the edge of the boat, and in one swift movement, they all entered the water, disappearing beneath the dark ripples.

The anomaly illuminated the dark waters beneath the surface, only to an extent, but it was better than nothing. The five turned on their separate torches and split up, the steady rhythm of the diving flippers could be heard softly deep in the waters, until everyone had distanced themselves far enough away from each other. Jayme found herself swimming towards the edge of the lake, the dirt cliffs soft beneath her fingers. The boulders on the lake floor were clearly worn down from the water over the years, yet they were still huge, big enough to hide behind. The occasional small cave at the edges weren't vast enough to hold a large sea creature, and so far, there didn't seem to be any sign of disturbance, but then again, there was no way of them knowing for sure; they were only searching a small section of the lake.

Kate felt as if she had been swimming for days, and yet not a single prehistoric creature had crossed her path; this entire assignment was beginning to feel more and more pointless. She glanced down at the watch, visible over her diving suit, it had been three and a half hours, more or less, what were they expecting to find? Looking back up, she found herself squinting through the dark depths of the lake. For a moment, she could've sworn she had seen something moving, it hadn't been very clear, more of a faint grey form, but she was almost certain she had seen something. The black-haired soldier swam back in the direction of the surface, breaking the calm flat waters as she reached her location. The boat had to be a fair hundred metres or so away from her current position. Kate removed the diving mask, leaving it hanging around her neck as she reconnected the ear piece, waiting for the signal to clear.

"Connor, I think I may have found something," The soldier stated, gazing over at the boat where the man would be sat, most likely watching all of the underwater cameras for any sign of a creature incursion.

"_What was it? Did you something?" _

"Not sure, it was some sort of large shape, grey in colour; don't know if I imagined it or not though, it was gone by the time I refocused," She informed, feeling the first effects of paranoia sinking in, here she was floating in the middle of a lake when there was a chance of a prehistoric creature swimming just below her, a chance of a carnivore in this very lake.

"_I'll let Danny know," _

"Got it, I'll circulate this area, keep an eye out,"

"_Be careful, there could be anything lurking in those waters, there's a number of carnivores from the Jurassic period which you really wouldn't want to meet," _

"Trust me, I'm always careful,"

Riley managed to find his way back to the locked anomaly, even with every intention to swim in the opposite direction; it was just his luck to travel in circles, direction hadn't always been his strongest point. The brunette soldier had failed to yet see any unusual entities moving through the waters of the Loch Ness; the strangest aspect of it all was that this whole assignment had brought back a piece of his childhood. As a young boy he had been wholeheartedly obsessed with mythical creatures, especially the Loch Ness Monster, the amount of books he used to own on these sorts of legends were beyond counting. It was an interest he had grown out of as he aged, but he couldn't deny that he was starting to match Temple's own curiosity and excitement for the possibly of finding the root to the legend behind Loch Ness.

As he began his ascent to the surface of the lake, a flash of grey from the corner of his eye alerted him to movement. He wasn't alone. It had been far enough away to only see a slight variation in colour, but it was definitely some form of creature, it had moved, that was all the identification he needed. Turning back on himself, he swam towards his left, the direction of the shape, and kept close to the surface, in case he needed to get to the boat. None of the team members knew what they were dealing with; if it was a predator then he needed to have an escape plan. Riley continued to watch the waters below him, waiting for a sign of movement again. He wasn't disappointed. A vague shape, grey in colour, moved beneath him; it was enough to make him breathless; for the first time in a long time, he felt almost frozen, unsure of what to do. He couldn't make out what it was; it was too deep for him to get a clear view. One thing was for sure, it appeared as though the ARC team were in fact dealing with a creature incursion after all.

"_Everyone be on the lookout, there's definitely something in this lake. We've had two sightings, Kate's and Riley's. We think we're dealing with a creature about five to six metres in length, not incredibly speedy, and greyish in colour. Be careful, we still don't know what it is exactly that we have on our hands,"_ Connor informed, his voice reaching out across all five ear pieces from the divers in the water, at least now they knew the search was no longer pointless.

Becker was now on his way towards the edge of the lake, after swimming from the boat in a large clockwise circle to where he was now. Ever since Connor's message, he had been keeping an even keener eye out for this creature, yet he came up blank. It certainly hadn't crossed his path, but then again, it was only a matter of time. The whole team had already been up for a new tank of air about twice now, they were lasting for around two hours, give or take; it all depended on how deep you dived. Even then, if they didn't find this creature soon, there would be no more air tanks left and they'd have to give up for the day, which wouldn't go down well considering there had been two sightings; at least it hadn't been from a civilian, Lester would have a field day if that happened.

As he travelled onwards, he spotted movement up ahead. It wasn't six metre long movement though. Just as he thought he was catching a break, it all fell apart. He made his way towards the dark figure, which spun around in shock at his sudden appearance. Beneath the diving mask, the familiar blue eyes of Jayme were visible, shooting him a playful glance of accusation for his unexpected entrance. She pointed upwards towards the surface of the water, before heading in the same direction. As she lifted the mask from her face, she noticed that the sun had hidden itself behind the dark clouds which were looming; typical UK weather. Becker soon joined her, breaking the still waters of the lake as he swam up from the depths.

"Found anything yet?" The soldier queried, running a hand through his soaked hair to clear it from falling onto his face.

"Nope; there's nothing unusual in any of the caves, I haven't seen any six metre long grey sea monster, what about you?"

"No such luck, I'm just hoping we haven't scared it away to the other end of the lake; that definitely won't make things any easier,"

"I doubt it, it'll be staying near the anomaly, this water will be different to the water back in its home, probably senses the danger, it won't travel far. I thought about if we opened the anomaly and just let it go back itself, but then again, any number of creatures could come swimming through, and they could be a lot more dangerous, so I guess it's probably not a good idea,"

"It would've been easier though,"

"Since when do our lives get easier?" Jayme quipped, sharing a smile with the soldier before glancing around at her surroundings. "We should get back to searching," She added, pulling the mask back up onto her face and descending into the dark waters to continue the search that was bringing up very few results. Becker was close behind, swimming not too far from her, searching for any form of life that may pass them. It was Jayme's abrupt stop that caught the soldier's eye, as she remained still, concentrating on something. He gazed in the same direction, yet there was nothing in sight; no creatures, no movement, no life. She gestured towards her ears, and before he even had the chance to understand what she was trying to communicate to him, the same noise travelled to him. It was low, barely audible, but it was definitely something.

Jayme turned back to concentrating on the sound; it was ever so similar to what a whale would make underwater. However, this sound was quieter, lower, more of a deep but gentle vibration through the waters. She'd heard communications like this before, they usually came from a breed of plesiosaur, just as her and Connor had predicted the day before. The brunette swam over to Becker, gaining his attention before signalling for him to follow her. She wasn't one hundred percent sure, but there was a possibly that the sound was coming from the very direction she had began travelling in; then again if she was wrong, they'd be pretty much back to square one.

Ever since Connor's voice had informed the team that there was in fact a creature in the lake, Danny had taken extra precautions. It would be useless to end up dead. Even with surveying the areas he was swimming in, there'd been nothing particularly suspicious in his path. He should've known not to speak to soon. A low sound reached his ears; it seemed to be a distress call, although he couldn't be certain. One thing he did know was that it belonged to a marine animal; that much he could be sure on. As he carried on swimming through the waters of the Loch Ness, a vague grey form caught the corner of his eye. The ex-team leader kept still, hoping that if there appeared to be no threat, it would come closer. That was one thing he did do right. The shape became clearer as it neared, making Danny's heart skip a beat faster. He knew Connor would be getting this all on video; his camera was directly facing the creature as it approached. The head couldn't have been that big, no more than half a metre long, it was the neck that took him by surprise, it had to be at least three metres long, and then its body followed. The body was rounder, bulkier than the neck; the four flippers that adorned it seemed rather powerful, pushing the creature elegantly through the waters. There was no mistaken that if a civilian had in fact seen this creature, they would have assumed it to be the thing behind the myths. The creature passed, without showing any sign that it had noticed him, and swam off, most likely travelling in a large circle around the anomaly; given the locations of his team members when they had sighted the creature, it didn't seem to be travelling far enough away from its only way home.

The last to climb back onto the boat was Becker's second in command, Kate. Mimicking everyone else's previous actions, she pulled off the diving mask and placed it on one of the tables, giving her face a rub with both hands. As she looked over at her team members, it was strange how she seemed to really notice the way everyone was stood. It hadn't been that obvious before, or at least she hadn't paid much attention to it. Becker didn't stray too far from Jayme, Jayme often kept at a close distance to Danny, Sam seemed to prefer being at opposite ends to Becker, only glancing over when she assumed no one to be looking; Kate had never noticed that before, she didn't really think about how much her friend may still be hurting, it had to be a weird situation for her after all; Riley and Scott usually remained either near each other or far away, their friendship often went from close to petty arguments and back again; it was only Connor who didn't seem to care where he stood, he was happy to be close to anyone, then again, he did get on well with every single one of the team members, most of the time; and for herself, she liked to be close enough to the action to know what was going on, she always wanted to be kept in the loop about things.

"I think I know what we're dealing with," Connor announced, shaking Kate out of her trance and mentally pulling her into the conversation, "My best guess would be a muraenosaurus,"

"A muraeno-what?" Becker questioned, furrowing his brow slightly; he always wondered why they had to have such complicated names.

"Muraenosaurus, it's similar to a plesiosaurus, but bigger, by around two to three metres; more proportionally sized neck and flippers," He informed the soldier, glancing back over at the image on the computer screen from Danny's camera; he had paused it at the best shot, it was view from the head, and then downwards on a slight angle; it was the best he could do considering how close it had been to the ex-team leader at the time.

"So are we thinking that the anomaly leads to maybe breeding or hunting grounds of a family of these muraenosaurus'? It would explain the whole Loch Ness Monster; they generally sound like the same creature when you read the stories, excluding the odd exception," Jayme added, folding her arms as she did so and looking over at Connor.

"Probably something like that; if it's a family it would explain why these stories have been going on for god knows how many years," Connor responded, hesitating slightly at his words; he wasn't sure of the top of his head how old this myth really was.

"First sighting was by Saint Columba in the 6th century, claims he came across a group of people burying a man who had been killed by a creature in the lake, and then he came across it himself when he went swimming; it was written about by Adomnán in the 7th century," Riley informed, pausing after the words had left his mouth; he wasn't even sure where that had come from.

Scott raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you often a walking encyclopaedia of myths?" He asked, smirking at his friend. It seemed as though Scott wasn't the only one interested in the answer to that, everyone had turned to face Riley, their faces slightly confused.

"I read about a lot of things like that when I was a kid," He responded, the pitch of his voice rising slightly in defence.

"Okay, so now that this weirdo is done talking, how about we come up with a plan to get Nessie back home?" Scott quipped, playfully punching Riley's arm who sent him a swift glare in return, only making the soldier smile more.

"Well we can, after you two kids stop teasing each other," Sam added, gently slapping the pair on their heads before wandering over to the edge of the boat and glancing over the side at the locked anomaly that shimmered beneath the surface, "What exactly are we going to do?"

"Ooh, I know!" Connor burst out after a moment's silence, startling a few of the team on the boat. He moved around, glancing at every single one of them until concluding that there was no one on the boat that was there when the ARC dealt with another underwater creature, one that was from the future. "We use the sound waves from Danny's camera, we use the sound to attract the creature,"

"Will that work?" Danny questioned, giving the man a slightly sceptical look.

"Yes, it's worked before, none of you were there though, Cutter was, but that's beside the point, he's all the way back in London. We dealt with a mer-creature from the future a few years ago, back in the ARC's early days, we used the sound to attract the creature and it worked, it came straight to us,"

"It was _that _easy?" Sam queried, sharing a similar expression to Danny as she watched Connor explain.

"Well, it didn't go _perfectly_. It took Abby, nearly killed her," He began, watching as the majority of the team looked at him with faces full of scepticism, "_But, _it did work. And a muraenosaurus wouldn't eat us, and it doesn't have the ability or the intelligence to kidnap us and take us away, so I think we're pretty much good on this one,"

"If you say so, Temple," Sam stated, sharing a look with Kate before glancing over at Connor once again, "Just tell us what we have to do,"

**.**

**A/N: Thank you for all of the visitors and views so far, it's great to know people are still reading this! I would _really _appreciate it if you reviewed and let me know what you think, I'll give you cyber cookies? :)**


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six: Showtime

**A/N: I did plan to perfect this chapter as much as I could but my head's spinning so forgive any mistakes or bad writing, I'll fix any problems you spot :)**

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After another half an hour or so of Connor setting up the various equipments, ensuring that the sound of the muraenosaurus' calls would be audible underwater, and the plan was ready to be put into action. Connor seemed to be the only one who was wholeheartedly sure that it would work; everyone else had their uncertainties, they just knew well enough to give Connor the benefit of a doubt before voicing their opinions, the man seemed to have luck of the century when it came to plans, well, sometimes, usually after the first few ideas failed anyway.

"Think it'll work?" Jayme questioned, stepping up beside the ex-team leader as he tied the sound mechanism to a metal hoop on the side of the boat.

"That's not my main concern," Danny stated, grabbing the rope and lowering the device overboard, letting it sink under the dark waters until it could travel no more.

She paused at his words, making sure she had heard them right before turning to face him, "Then what is?" The brunette queried, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"All of the other creatures that could be on the other side; we don't want anything else getting through. We got lucky with this one, it isn't interested in snacking on the locals, that's a first with these things,"

"It's not going to be open long, we'll unlock it as the muraenosaurus approaches, close it when it goes through,"

"Trust me, that's long enough,"

"Everything ready?" Kate called, her finger hovering over the one button on the keyboard that would pull this whole plan into motion.

Jayme glanced down at the lake, watching the vague outline of Connor, Riley and Becker who were placed not far from the golden anomaly, the underwater locking mechanism set in place for when the creature approached them. "Ready," The brunette replied, listening intently as the soldier started the audio that would no doubt be playing in the water, hopefully drawing the attention of the muraenosaurus.

Half an hour passed, and for a moment the team assumed that the plan was beginning to fall apart, there had been no sign of any creature heading towards the anomaly. It wasn't until Danny straightened his stance that Jayme figured he had seen something. She stood up swiftly, following the ex-team leader's gaze in the direction of the faint grey shape in the waters.

"Open the anomaly," Danny ordered, glancing down at the three men underneath the surface of the lake, illuminated by the gateway through time.

Nothing happened. The anomaly still remained fixed in its locked ball, closed to anything that tried to enter. The brunette rushed over to the laptop, joined by Kate, in an attempt to reconnect the communications system. The space between the anomaly and the creature was rapidly deteriorating, they needed that anomaly open.

"Connor? Open the anomaly, now!" The ex-team leader shouted, pressing his finger to the device in his ear. Still, nothing happened.

"It's going to turn back before they see it," Jayme stated, slight desperation in her voice, the light from the anomaly would block their long-range vision, it wouldn't be until the creature was close enough to sense some form of a trap that they would see it.

Danny glanced back over at the creature, his gaze flickering between the anomaly, the men and the muraenosaurus. There was no way they would see it in time. Without a second thought, the man followed his instincts; there was only one way to get them to unlock it. Jayme spun around as the water splashed up against the sides of the boat, the surface of the lake showing serious signs of disturbance. She jogged over towards the boat edge, watching alongside her team members as Danny could be seen swimming down beneath the surface, with nothing but a mouthful of air to support him. She let out a relieved smile as the streak of light from the underwater locking mechanism hit the glowing ball of light, leaving the shards of energy to expand before spinning furiously in circles. It wasn't going to last long.

As the ex-team leader broke the surface of the water once again, gasping for air, the muraenosaurus passed through the anomaly, slipping through it as easy as an open door to the past. The light shrank swiftly, before disappearing altogether, leaving no trace of any prehistoric intrusion, restoring the lake to its original state.

"See..." Connor began, reappearing from the lake's depths, the diving mask hanging loosely around his neck, "No problem,"

Danny chuckled beside him, "Yeah, no problem," He repeated, his voice edging on sarcasm, before gently pushing Connor underwater, who bounced back up as quickly as he disappeared, coughing from the abrupt mouthful of water.

"It worked, didn't it?" Connor questioned, his pitch heightening slightly as Danny, Becker and Riley left the water, standing back onto the boat, removing the diving equipment and throwing it across the floor.

"Next time we should probably check comms are working," Kate suggested, reaching a hand out to help Connor back into the boat, "It'd be a little less... stressful," She added, glancing over at Danny, who was soaked from head to foot, and smiling. "But, yeah, your plan did technically work, at least no one nearly died," She admitted, turning back to face Connor.

"Don't jinx it," Scott warned, playfully.

"We should probably get Lester to get a team out here to do a full sonar reading, you know, just in case, check nothing slipped through," Connor stated, running his hands through his hair. "And Jess can label this site on the system, never know when the anomaly will decide to open again,"

"I say we should get back to the hotel, drinks are on Lester for tonight," Danny concluded, sending the team a cheeky smile, "He'll just think it's part of the hotel price,"

"Clearly you underestimate him, he always knows," Connor added, "But he'll not find out until tomorrow, and it was your plan, so we can just blame you,"

Danny grinned at him before uttering a response, "I'll take my chances,"

For every single one of the team members that night on the boat was a great way to loosen up. They all needed a break, a bit of relaxation, and a bit of fun, work like this tends to get highly stressful at times; and given the situation back in London, stress levels were seriously rocketing. A few drinks, a lot of banter, feeling like normal friends without any tension or responsibility were all things that they needed, especially considering they would all be reminded of everything the next day, all the tension would be back, and they would all have their jobs to do. It wasn't until around two in the morning that they had all trailed back into the hotel, one by one, migrating off to their rooms for the rest of the night, or morning, depending on the point of view.

"Was a good night," Scott stated as the three soldiers wandered into the room they were sharing, planting himself on one of the beds and collapsing into the soft world of duvets.

"Would've been better if Jess was here, it's weird not having her around when there's an anomaly," Riley added, pulling off the boots on his feet and tossing them beside the bed at the other side of the room. He always liked knowing she was on the other end of the comms, helping them out, keeping them out of danger, as best as she could anyway.

Scott chuckled to himself before speaking again, "I miss those short skirts of hers; it should be a requirement for the girls. Imagine it, Kate, Sam, Jayme, Jess, in those, no one would get any work done, but-"

"Cut it out, Lambert," Becker warned, briefly glancing over at Scott; the soldier could be a pain at times.

"C'mon, just because you've had a go doesn't mean we can't dream,"

"I mean it, Lambert, have some _respect_,"

"All I'm saying is that they're very beautiful women, no disrespect there, Captain. What's she like anyway? You know, Jayme," He questioned, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he watched Becker, who had chosen not to face him.

Becker gritted his teeth as he forced himself to just sit down and shut up. He knew that Scott had a tendency to be a dick, especially after a few drinks, the man just didn't know when to keep quiet. But it was the smirk that irritated him the most, which meant telling himself to not look at the younger soldier would be the best idea, it was just hard to not want to put the man's head on a stick. He wouldn't stand for anyone talking about Jess or Jayme like that, he respected his colleagues way too much to put up with that kind of shit; why did Danny have to suggest a couple drinks, more importantly, why did Danny have to put him in a room with Scott in the first place. It had always been the same for Becker, never disrespect the people you work with; he knew how men talked, it wasn't as if he didn't do it himself, it was just that he didn't talk about the people he worked with like that, especially not out loud.

"So, Becker, been with Jess too?" Scott queried, interrupting the soldiers thoughts with another series of completely insane questions.

"No, Lambert, I haven't," Becker responded, the flat tone in his voice evident, clearly showing how bored and frustrated he was with Scott's comments.

"What's Jayme like then? Bet she's got a lot of stamina, am I right?"

And that was the final straw. Becker didn't even believe what he had done as he found himself suddenly standing upright, in front of the younger soldier. All that reminded him was the slight tingle across his knuckles, the tingle that he usually got when he slammed his fist into a person's face. Riley jumped in shock, now sat up completely straight on the edge of his bed, watching Scott as he rubbed his jaw and the Captain who stared at his fist, possibly looking more stunned than himself. Becker didn't say anything, the frustration still bubbled inside of him, he wasn't even sure he could stand there any longer without saying or doing something else that he would definitely regret.

"I'm getting out of here," Was all Riley heard him say before the Captain dismissed himself from the room, not leaving any sign in his voice that he planned to come back.

Scott's gaze flickered over towards Riley, "What the hell was that?" He questioned, rubbing the mark on his jaw before sitting back on the bed beside him.

"Don't look at me, I can't say you didn't deserve it," Riley added, hiding back a smirk before jumping off the bed and heading to the bathroom, listening to the muttered swears of his friend all up until he shut the door behind him.

The firm knock on the door broke the silence of the abandoned corridor, where Becker stood awkwardly, a million things buzzing through his mind; no doubt the person on the other side of this door would mention and question at least half of them. Just as he hoped, the door swung open, revealing the blue-eyed brunette who stood in front of him, dressed only in pyjama shorts and a vest top, making Becker's head near explode as the extra thoughts packed themselves inside.

"What are you doing here, Becker?" She questioned, her hand still resting on the door as she spoke to him.

"Had a small disagreement with Scott," The soldier replied, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, leaving the brunette eyeing him suspiciously.

"What did you do?" She queried, raising her eyebrows at him, the tone of her voice suggesting that the piece of news wasn't a huge surprise.

"What makes you think _I_ did anything?"

"Wow, feeling a little sensitive, are we?" Jayme stated, smiling at him, watching him more closely as she shook her head and began to explain, "Whenever something irritates or upsets you, you tend to wait it out, keep your cool and everything, until it gets too much then you usually go from calm to lashing out, normally by shouting, but I wouldn't put minor violence past you if the situation called for it. So, what exactly did you do, Becker?"

"I _may_ have punched Scott," The soldier responded, furrowing his brow as he tried to explain what had gone down between him and his colleague.

Jayme's smile faded quite quickly as the words left his mouth, "Are you kidding? Do you realise how much trouble you could get in for that, you're the ranking officer on your team, not to mention its assault in the first place! Why would you do that?"

"Look, do you mind if I come in, I can't go back there tonight, I promise I'll explain everything," Becker stated, still looking rather exasperated, his eyes verging on the edge of Connor's expertise, puppy dog eyes; it was enough for the brunette to cave and move aside to let him through. She gave a glance down the hallway before closing the door gently behind her and moving over to the couch.

"Interested in telling me what happened now?" Jayme asked, sending him a sympathetic smile as he leant back against the cushions, sighing simultaneously.

"It was just about what he was saying, it got to me; a moments weakness, what can I say?"

"You punched Scott because he talked to you?" The brunette queried, taking an innocent tone to her voice as she spoke.

"He was talking about you, and Jess, well all of you; he deserved it,"

"So, being all noble and everything, you thought it would be better to _punch_ him, for talking about us?"

"It wasn't like he was throwing innocent compliments your way," The soldier stated, his pitch rising slightly, "I just don't want you talked about like that, okay? I care about you, you deserve a lot more than the way he was going on about you,"

"Not to make things worse or anything..." She began, glancing down nervously before facing him once more, "But being the kind of guy you are outside of work, can _you_ really criticise him?"

Becker's glance shot back up to her instantly, "Is this about what Zach told you? Look, I admit that I don't tend to do relationships very often, but I don't disrespect women, or the people I've been with, I just don't easily settle for long term things. I'm picky, that's all,"

"Never mind, I shouldn't have suggested that you were disrespectful in the first place, I don't know, I guess I'm just not used to people running to my defence," She admitted, feeling slightly pathetic in the midst of the conversation.

"You know I'll always defend you, Jayme," Becker stated, glancing over at her, "_Always_,"

"I'm going to stop you right there, don't want you breaking out into song or anything, soldier boy," The brunette stated, grinning at him, unable to miss the twinkle in his eyes as he returned her smile. She didn't hesitate for a moment as he leant over and pressed his lips against hers, cupping her face with his hand, smiling as they eventually broke away, finally being able to see her relax as everything in her mind floated a million miles away. That one weak moment was all it took for the two to completely give in to everything they were holding back, and the kiss was brought to life again as he shifted her body, so gently that she hadn't noticed she was lying flat on the couch until he appeared above her, holding himself up steadily with arms at either side, positioning himself so that their lips touched with ease.

Her hands slid up his back, gently feeling each muscle beneath the fabric of his shirt as he brushed his lips against the delicate skin of her neck. He blew a light breath over the moist spot, before his lips trailed across her jaw line. She shivered in his arms. How could she find the strength to resist him when his nearness alone drove her to distraction? Her back arched slightly as his lips returned to her neck. He was rewarded with a low moan as she shuddered. Each touch left her wanting more, needing more. Becker involuntarily gasped for air as she lightly dragged her nails down the extent of his back, his breath dancing across her neck, goose bumps playing along their skin. His arms shifted, hands moving underneath, lifting her up from where she lay and wrapping themselves around her body. His lips returned to hers as she held her legs firmly around his waist. He hesitated, not wanting to break the kiss, not wanting her body to leave his. The light headedness took control as he felt her arms slide around his neck, her body moving ever so slightly with the motion, completely obliterating any sense of sanity that he once had. It was like a wild fire rising up inside of him, and he was positive that nothing would stop him from fulfilling every need that pumped through his veins. Spinning around from the spot he was stood on, he gently lowered the brunette onto the soft bed behind them, not wasting any time until he was above her again, a familiar adrenaline rushing through his blood, sending his heart racing. She ran a gentle hand up his arms, the act seeming so much calmer than the urgency beating inside of them, and Becker lay in wait as her eyes followed the movement, flickering up to meet his own warm, brown eyes gazing down at her, glinting in the light.

Fire spread rapidly as the distance between them closed, the soldier no longer finding the strength to prolong the gentle moment they shared. Neither took notice of the clothes being shed, falling to the floor, becoming nothing but a piece of the distant past. All she could do was feel him, close to her, seducing her with every lingering touch. His hands traced her stomach lightly, followed by his gentle lips, leaving shivers dancing through her, the sharp increases of breath as skin touched skin, like sparks of electricity rippling through their bodies. Any self-control she could have thought to possess was quickly destroyed as he slowly trailed his tongue across the line of her hipbone, making her mouth go dry and her thoughts go numb. There was no point in fighting him anymore; she had no willpower left inside of her to do so. Nails dug further into the fabric sheets beneath them as time kept moving, and the rest of the night slowly became a blur, pulsing with shockwaves of blissful sensation, burning a memory in their minds of the pleasure and intensity between them, of the way they drove each other to absolute ecstasy.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Confession

**A/N: Originally this chapter and the next were together as one, but after adding a bit more in, it started to feel a little crowded, so they're split. I hope this one turned out okay, thanks to katy1986 and SamjoeStoryWriter for the reviews, and everyone else for reading :) **

**.**

The world was silent, the sun had only just rose over the horizon, leaving barely any outside light to peak through the curtains of the hotel room; all was still. The soldier had awoken simply moments ago, and by his guess it had to be around six in the morning. He remained quiet, resting on his side, letting his gaze drop to the woman beside him. She looked so incredibly peaceful, calmly taking in deep breaths, with nothing to worry about until she was back in London, making him wish they could just stay here for a little longer. He traced the soft skin on her cheek with his finger, watching her contently. Within seconds, her hands flew up, one gripping a sleek blade as she woke, startled. As her eyes found his, her breathing fell back into normal pace, allowing the man to rest his hands back onto the bed.

"I'm so sorry," The brunette rushed out, placing the knife onto the bedside table, and turning back to face the shocked Becker, "You... surprised me," She stated, sending an apologetic look his way.

"You usually pull a knife out of your pillow?" He questioned, a smile forcing its way onto his lips in reaction to the small incident.

"Old habits are hard to break, I guess," Jayme responded, regaining composure, "The past and the future aren't the safest places to sleep, you kind of have to be prepared," She explained, noticing the slight confusion on his face. "I don't really do the whole waking up next to someone who's already awake," She added, still feeling as though there was more to justify.

Becker's eyes narrowed in curiosity as he listened to her words, "What do you do then?"

"Sneak out," The brunette responded, biting her lip nervously as she thought about how it all must sound to him; figuring that he may need more clarification, she continued, "I guess my experiences were slightly different than what they're meant to be. I didn't do the whole waiting for love, having your first time with someone you care about, if that's what you're wondering. It was usually never anything more than a way of fulfilling needs every time I came back from the anomalies; then I would wake before they did, leave, never see them again, it worked for me,"

"So you weren't a... I mean when we... You know, when I..." He paused as she raised an eyebrow at him, her face showing more than enough amusement from his attempt at words, "It's just that I didn't really think you'd have much time for any of that, considering how long you spent on your own, that's all,"

"That looked like a lot of hard work, Becker," Jayme began, letting a smile fall across her lips as she noticed the playful glare he threw her way, "The fact that I spent so much time alone was probably the main reason for wanting to give into those experiences so casually, feeling some kind of comfort and companionship was better than feeling nothing at all,"

Those words seemed to get to him more than he could've imagined as he thought about what she had told him. He knew how she had always closed herself off, he knew she still did at times, but hearing her explain how she tried to fill the void her locked emotions had made was something he hadn't been prepared himself to hear, and something he was certain he wasn't going to let her go through again. The lying in silence seemed to last longer than either one of them had expected, until Becker managed to pull a set of words out from the cloud of thoughts that plagued his mind. He placed a gentle hand on her waist, leading her eyes to glance back up into his so he knew he had her full attention, "Promise me something?" She simply hummed in response, not committing to any promises until she knew exactly what he was planning on asking her. He smiled slightly at her subtle caution before speaking again, "Next time, please don't try and stab me,"

The brunette raised her eyebrows, "Next time?" She queried, watching the soldier with warm blue eyes, sharing a smile with him before answering, "I _guess_ I can make that promise," She added, closing her eyes softly as Becker planted a light kiss on her lips. "Becker?" The soldier met her gaze once more as she spoke his name, giving her his undivided attention, "Do you mind if I ask _you_ a question?" The brunette asked, taking a quick breath as she remembered about the one thing that had not left her mind for three years, one thing that she had to ask while she still had the courage to do so.

"Of course,"

"Do you remember when we first went into that cave, just after we arrived in the future three years ago, I told you to go on without me, and you wouldn't?"

"Yeah... What about it?" The soldier questioned, a curious glint forming in his eyes as he tried to figure out what she was getting at.

"What did you mean by 'again'? You told me that you weren't going to lose another team member 'again', you never told me what you meant by that," She stated, the features on her face softening as she watched his expression falter; maybe bringing back bad memories wasn't the best idea, but it had to be done sooner or later.

Becker sighed, clenching his hands lightly in nervous weakness as he sat up, leaning against the bed post, letting the past memory flood back into his brain. It was the one thing he had the most trouble getting over, the one thing that haunted him longer than any other bad memory, and the one thing he regretted most. He didn't tend to show hurt on his face, he was usually able to control his emotions on the job, but it didn't matter where he was, as soon as the last memory he had of Sarah flooded his mind, he had to muster all of his strength to not break down; he would never be able to get past the feeling of losing someone he was responsible for.

"If you don't want to talk about it..." The brunette began, her voice much softer now, quieter, her eyes not leaving his face as she watched him being reminded of the one thing it was clear he wanted to forget.

"No, it's fine," The soldier murmured, glancing over at her and faintly sighing as he pictured his old friend in his mind, as clear as if he'd seen her only yesterday, "Back when Helen was still around, when Danny, Connor and Abby went through that anomaly after her, there was one other core team member. Her name was Sarah. As you know, they didn't come back, it turns out after the future anomaly, they travelled through into the cretaceous, but we didn't know that at the time. Sarah suggested we organise search parties, I didn't want her to go but she insisted; I should've tried harder to convince her not to..." He stated, taking in a slow deep breath before forcing himself to continue, despite all of the warnings his mind was screaming at him and all of the commands to just stop, "On the fourth rescue mission there was a future predator, it went after her, and she hid in one of the abandoned cars. She thought she was out of the clear, but it came back, tore her right out of the car, through the windscreen, I didn't get to her in time and it was too late," The soldier told her, rubbing a hand over his face as he couldn't help but feel drowned in all the regret, all the sorrow that followed every word, "You know, I can still see it, hear her. She was shouting my name, she needed me and I let her down. There was so much terror in her voice; she didn't deserve that, no one did. It was my job to protect her and I _failed. _I watched my own friend torn to pieces, and by the time I was in range, there was nothing left that I could do, nothing left of the woman I once knew. Just blood, everywhere, and I had to look into her lifeless eyes and come to face to face with the fact that I couldn't even do my job right, I couldn't save her..."

"Hey," The brunette whispered, her voice soothing as she placed a gentle hand on his face, hoping to calm him down; the anger in his voice showed completely where the blame was; on himself. She hated that. "It wasn't your fault," She reassured, biting back any sadness from washing over her as she watched, for the first time, a reluctant tear roll down his cheek; he closed his eyes, forcing himself to get under control.

"I've never told anyone the full story before, I couldn't," He stated, reaching up to hold her hand in his as he continued, "I resigned after that, but Lester, he convinced me to come back as head of security again, if it wasn't for him I don't think I'd ever of moved past the initial hurt. I can't stop feeling responsible for it, I should've protected her; I should've found a way," His voice shook as he spoke the words, the volume raising slightly from the tone he was previously using; she didn't let it faze her, no matter how heartbreaking it was to hear his words quiver in comparison to the calm tone he usually spoke in, she made sure to try her best to make it unreadable on her features, he had always been strong when she was emotionally exposed, she had to do the same for him.

"There wasn't anything you could do, Becker, these things happen. It wasn't your fault, and you need to remember that she didn't die in vain,"

"But she shouldn't have died at all,"

"Becker, why tell me this? You didn't have to; you didn't want to, you didn't have to relive it,"

"Because you told me your story, about you growing up, about the institution; and I wanted to make sure that I did the same, you deserve to know these things, especially after how much I pressured you into opening up,"

"I get it, but Becker you need to stop blaming yourself. You're a good man, you didn't fail her, and she knows that, trust me, I know she knows that; you have to learn how to deal with the guilt. I've been there, I still am, but you helped me, this whole team helped me, and they're there for you as well, they always have been, and I always will be," Jayme told him, sending him a sympathetic smile, it was the least she could do, "Just remember that," She added in a whisper.

"I will," He murmured, leaning forward and kissing her forehead, lingering for a moment as he squeezed his eyes shut, regaining as much composure as he could before facing her again, a whole new realisation setting in, "I don't want there to be tension between us anymore, I don't want to lose you, as stupid as that sounds, I just... I just want you,"

She gave him a small smile, biting her bottom lip lightly as she thought about everything she'd been through, and everything they'd been through together, how right it felt to just be with him. And that's what made her completely give in, "You have me," She whispered in response, blue eyes looking back up at him, watching as a smile slowly fell across his lips.

Despite all that had happened between Becker and Jayme, they kept their distance as soon as they mingled back into the crowd the team had made in the lobby that morning. It was more like a silent agreement between the two to keep things quiet, no point in causing unnecessary drama; that was something they had both had enough of. Becker had casually brushed off Riley's questions about where he went last night by saying he paid for a separate room, and when he asked his own questions about Scott's state of mind, the younger soldier simply told him that Scott was way too embarrassed to make a big deal out of the incident. Luckily, things were actually going his way for once; he had the most amazing night with the girl that wouldn't leave his mind and he was able to move on from the small fallout between him and Scott; he was really hoping nothing would come out of it, it was one of the stupidest things he had ever done in the workplace, and not at all something he would have done before in his life, at least not to a co-worker anyway.

However, even with the decision he and Jayme had made, he still couldn't help his gaze flickering towards her every so often on the train journey back, making him feel like a school kid all over again, something that he found both refreshing and slightly pathetic at the same time. He hadn't felt so infatuated by anyone in a long time, and he still couldn't figure out how Jayme had managed to do this to him in the first place, not that he was complaining. Although the slightly suspicious looks he caught on Danny's face a couple times during the journey reminded him that he needed to be a little more subtle on his glances, otherwise their attempt to keep it all quiet would turn out to be a waste of time; though he was almost completely sure that the ex-team leader hadn't figured out their secret, not that easily. On the other hand, Jayme felt the incredibly happy and pleasurable memory slowly being hidden by the avalanche of stress that flooded her mind, reminding her of the current Amanda problem, and leaving her wondering what exactly she would find back in London. They hadn't expected to deal with the anomaly in only a matter of two days, leaving her with very little time to think of what to do next. By the time they were just a few minutes away from the station, the only thing Jayme had decided was that she wasn't planning on sitting around and waiting for Amanda to attack again, it was pointless giving her the upper hand so easily, and she was definitely not the kind of person to let her do so either; it took a little longer than she cared to admit to remind herself of that. Instead, she needed to be in control, she needed to act fast, and more importantly, act first. And as the train slowed to a final stop, she had concluded where her best starting point would be. All she had to do first was clue Danny in, and then they could put the plan into motion.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lost In Time

Back in London, not far from the ARC building, slumped in a chair whose colours were awfully mismatched, sat the current team leader Matt, beside a bed of white sheets. Head in hands, he carefully listened to the steady beat of the monitor, the small beeps singing the song of her heart. At times that noise was the only thing that reminded him she was okay, that she was alive. It was all he could hold onto right now.

"You'll be alright," The Irish man whispered, more in an attempt to convince himself than the sleeping woman on the hospital bed. He forced his head up, tired eyes falling on his fiancée, her skin whiter than the sheets around her, her body limp and weak. It killed him to see her so fragile compared to the strong woman she usually was. Reaching out, he took her hand in his, a trembling smile forming on his lips as her head tilted to the side, eyes opening so slowly that it looked as though she used all of her effort just to do so.

"Hey," The words were barely audible when matched with the dryness of her throat and the weakness of her state, but she still managed to let a small smile crawl across her lips, trying her best not to worry the man she loved so dearly.

Matt let his head fall slightly, eyes closing as he pressed a shaky kiss to the soft skin of her hands, the coldness of them shocking him out of his thoughts. He tried to keep himself as composed as possible but it began to feel like an endless battle, one that he wasn't going to win. His gaze slid back up to her, the water in his eyes betraying him as he saw the faint tear lines down her cheeks. Neither spoke, and for that Matt was glad for he was positive that if he opened his mouth right now, he wouldn't be able to prevent breaking down in front of her. He wasn't going to let that happen, he was going to be strong for her, all he could think of was how selfish it would feel to let himself be the weak one when she was in this state.

Footsteps distracted the two from their silent moment, and Matt looked up rather quickly as the sound neared, his eyes still full with heartache as he kept his fiancées hand in his. The doctor stopped in his tracks as he approached the couple, sending a well practiced smile of compassion their way. The doctor cleared his throat slightly, before addressing the two, keeping the file attached to the clipboard by his side.

"How are you feeling, Miss Merchant?" The dark-skinned man asked; voice mixed with both professionalism and genuine concern. Emily had been in the care of Dr. Evans since she arrived at the hospital, and Matt, spending the majority of his time here, had become quite acquainted with him, the team leader respected the kindness that the doctor showed his patients, and highly appreciated it in Emily's case.

"Tired, but better than before," Matt smiled at her as she said this, admiring the strength she put in her voice, she was always such a strong person, he really loved that about her; he just hoped she wouldn't try and leave the hospital before she was ready, she needed the rest, and the treatment.

"Glad to hear it; and I have some good news of my own. The tests came back, and I am happy to say that both babies seem to be healthy. Now, you need to make sure you stay off your feet, and keep your stress levels down, none of you are out of the clear yet. Don't try to recover too quickly, it will cause unnecessary strain on your body, and we don't want that, do we?"

Matt had seemed to stop listening after the first couple sentences, glancing at Emily whose expression seemed as equally confused as his own, "Did you just say _both___babies?" The Irish man questioned, gaze flickering between the doctor and his fiancée, knowing that he and Emily were completely shocked by his words.

"That's right," Dr. Evans stated, eyes narrowing as he focused on the puzzled looks of the couple, "You did know it was twins, right?" He queried, hesitating slightly, soon becoming as confused as those in front of him.

"Does it look like we knew?" Matt questioned; eyes widening, a slight edge of sarcasm on his words. "You didn't know either, did you?" He added, glancing over at the brunette woman who shook her head slowly, her expression not faltering from the strong perplexity that stuck to her face.

"So no one told you it was twins?" The doctor asked, raising his eyebrows at the two, "Well then, I guess I'm happy to inform you that you're pregnant with twins," He added, still partially hesitant on his words as he organised the thoughts in his head, "Congratulations,"

Matt let out a long overdue breath, glancing over at Emily once more before turning the attention on Dr. Evans, "Thank you," He responded, "We're having twins," He repeated, looking back over at his fiancée and smiling, "And you were strong enough to keep them safe through all of this," He whispered to her, squeezing her hands in his, triggering a smile of her own to take control.

"I'll leave you two to it, if you need any help or have any questions you know to just press the button," The doctor informed, giving them a warm smile before dismissing himself and leaving the two in each other's company.

"I don't believe it," Matt murmured to himself, leaning back against the uncomfortable hospital chair, a smile still on his face.

"Me neither," She whispered, voice still croaky, as she lay back down against the bed, closing her eyes for a moment as she held a shaky hand over her stomach. It still hurt, she still hurt all over, not to mention how she weak she was feeling, it wasn't something she was used to and it certainly wasn't something she liked. But she was having two children, and they were alive, they were safe, that information seemed to make her completely forget about all of the pain she was in.

The Irish man jumped slightly at the ringing in his pocket, startling the two out of their thoughts. "I'll be right back," he announced, reaching out to give her hand a soft squeeze before standing up and walking out into the corridor. "What's up?" Matt asked, bringing the phone to his ear almost instantly.

He quickly recognised Jess' voice as she spoke to him, soon beginning her small rant about how his black-box was turned off. The familiarity of it seeped in, making the corners of his mouth twitch, resisting a smile, as he was fully reminded of all those times during his mission from three years ago whilst trying to save the world when Jess would constantly scold and question him over his whereabouts. The memory really made him realise how much things had changed since he began working at the ARC.

"_Matt?"_

"Yeah, I'm still here, sorry," The team leader apologised, his brain kicking into focus, "Where's the anomaly?" He asked, as he recalled the information she had given him whilst he reminisced over the past.

"_Co-ordinates are already sent to your car. The rest of the team are nearly there," _

"Got it, I'll not be long,"

"_Oh, and Matt?" _Jess began, speaking just in time as his finger hovered over the end call button, _"Turn your black-box on," _She stated, the line going dead as soon as the last word was spoken.

Matt shoved the phone in his pocket before wandering back into the hospital room, greeted by his fiancée with a small smile. "Anomaly alert, I've got to go, I'll be back though," The man informed, walking over and pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead, "I love you, Emily," He breathed, stroking her cheek with his thumb gently before picking up the jacket on the back of the chair and reluctantly walking away, leaving the woman alone to rest.

The anomaly floated not far from the ground in the middle of the car park behind one of the business buildings, the glass-like shards of energy softly circling around each other. The government cars were already parked near, the black clad soldiers searching the perimeter for any incursions whilst a smaller group of people set about locking it. Even from where she was standing, she could distinguish Jayme Cutter and Danny Quinn in the crowd, the two people who were progressively becoming a risk to the plan she had set in motion. The blonde hadn't made it to the anomaly site in time, and now she had the government in her way, which wasn't what she had in mind for this mission. She needed to get through that anomaly, and she didn't need anyone on her trail; the problem was trying to sneak past that many armed people and unlocking the anomaly, all without catching any attention; that was definitely not going to work if she didn't do something to distract them. If it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't the one who opened it, and that the very person who did was on the other side, she would have simply tried to open a new anomaly in a different location, however that wasn't the case, and she didn't have time to attempt a plan B.

Although, since the smaller group had stepped away from the now locked anomaly and were conversing, Amanda had a little more hope than before. But it wasn't until a new man drove up to the site and joined the group that an idea actually formed in her head. Leaving no time to waste, her phone was in hand and the number dialling. The blonde moved back around the side of the wall, making sure to stay out of sight as she made the call.

"I can't get through, government beat me to it. I need your help," Amanda began, awaiting a response before going into full details of the plan she had to ensure no one would notice her as she slipped through the anomaly, she had to be more careful of that now, for too long Quinn and Cutter had been tracking her without her knowledge, they may have had the upper hand then, but no one held the upper hand over Amanda forever.

"_Twenty minutes,"_ The voice on the other end stated, in response to her question of how long they'd be. The blonde answered in agreement to his words before hanging up, cutting off the connection between Antonio and her. She stole another glance past the corner of the business building, keeping close to the wall, watching as the government group talked amongst themselves, the glow of the anomaly just reaching their skin. The plan wouldn't be long now. She just had to wait twenty minutes, and then she was able to go.

The time passed quickly and before anyone had a chance to react, shards of glass burst free from the building beside the anomaly, fiercely slick flames shooting into the air as the surge of oxygen hit them. Screams followed. Loud, echoing screams that filled the atmosphere, completely changing it from the quiet, serene world it once was. The guards that surrounded the anomaly were soon gone, rushing into the burning building, their seemingly heroic acts making the blonde sick to the stomach. Why anyone would run into a fiery death was beyond her, if someone couldn't get out of a situation like that themselves then she saw it pointless for them to escape at all, there was no room for weak people in the world, at least that's how she saw it. But in this case, these noble deeds made her route to the anomaly as easy as counting to three, and she saw no reason as to why she couldn't continue her plan now. Around her, the chaos screeched, drawing in all attention to bystanders, springing the government group into life. The smoke that beat down from the broken windows lay as a barrier to their vision, blocking the blonde from their sights. This was beginning to seem way too easy.

Amanda walked cautiously at first, camouflaging between the clouds of smoke that hugged her into the darkness. The fumes clawed at her eyes, water beginning to fill them, yet she carried on, breaking into a run as she neared the locked anomaly. No one had stayed behind to monitor it; all were too distracted by the fire that licked the walls, destroying everything and anyone in its path. She crouched down towards the device that would unlock the anomaly, she had become familiar with it now, after her observations of it in use. The ARC was knowledge that she was well aware of for a while now, she just wasn't prepared for Quinn and Cutter who appeared out of nowhere, and most of all she hadn't expected them to be allies of the ARC; it made it a lot harder than simply eliminating civilians who were caught in the crossfire. Civilians were easily dealt with, but dealing with people working for the government created problems, especially when they were already on to her.

After analysing the equipment, she was swift to figuring it out, and opening the anomaly was beginning to feel easier and easier. Within her own organisation, they didn't use locking devices, it was pointless, simply opening and closing them sufficed, she had no use for anything else. One more button to press. In front of her, the shards of energy spiralled apart, creating the familiar shape of the open anomaly. It was only one glance as the smoke cleared that led to their eyes meeting, and in that single moment, Amanda knew she wasn't going through this alone. Nevertheless, the blonde ignored the shouting, the calls of her name, and continued her mission, shooting straight into the middle of the gateway through time, disappearing amongst the light that radiated from it, and overall, leaving the present chaos behind her.

Becker's eyes shot around the instant Jayme's voice reached his ears. Even amongst the disorder caused by the abrupt explosion, he managed to pick up on the words leaving her lips, and as he gave an attempt to see through the thick smoke that separated them, he finally realised what she was saying. Her words were yells, shouting of a name that stirred an ill feeling in his gut. Amanda. The soldier drove his attention away from the damage behind him and focused on fighting through the fumes, blinking rapidly as it stung his eyes. Given the amount of times he'd been in similar situations to this, he'd have expected his eyes to be immune to watering under these conditions, yet still the smoke insisted on attacking him, although the soldier had learnt to withstand and forget the stinging sensation it left behind.

Rushing through the clouds of smoke, Becker instantly pinpointed the brunette speeding across the car park, straining and stretching every muscle in her body as she forced herself to run faster than her legs could bear. She was more than determined to catch up with the blonde who swiftly disappeared through the anomaly, and she was not prepared to lose her again. Ignoring everything in his mind that screamed and begged for him to stop and think about this rationally, the soldier felt his own feet pacing, eyes firmly glued to Jayme until her figure became engulfed by the shards of energy that spiralled above the ground, only encouraging his decision to go after her. Only once a few feet away from the ball of energy did the footsteps he tried so desperately to numb out finally catch up to him. A firm hand on his shoulder brought his feet to a reluctant stop, turning around quickly to see the owner.

"_What_ are you doing?" The Irish man questioned, a complete bewilderment etched out across his face as he attempted to draw the soldier's attention away from the anomaly.

"Going after Amanda, I'm not leaving Jayme on her own," Becker retorted, the strength in his voice only reinforcing the determination that bubbled inside of him, trying to convince himself to just run, deal with the consequences later, actions that were beginning to seem different to what he usually believed was the right thing to do.

"No, we do not go through anomalies. You're on my team; we have rules for a reason, Becker,"

"I don't care, I'm also not going to let her fend for herself, she needs our help, and the longer I stand here arguing with you, the longer she has to completely disappear on that side of the anomaly, I'm going,"

"She can look after herself, and it's my job to look after you! I'm team leader for a reason, it means something, and I'm in charge, so what I say goes,"

"That's exactly how I felt when she decided to go through an anomaly three years ago, and you know what? I went through with her anyway, because sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture, this is about stopping someone who could change everything we've fought for!"

"That's not the point..." Matt began, watching as Becker's gaze switched between himself and the anomaly, and in that moment, he realised he wasn't going to be able to stop him. Before he could even attempt anything, the soldier swiftly charged up the EMD in hand and dashed towards the anomaly, giving Matt a one second decision to choose his own course of action. He had to get those two back into the present. Giving one last glance towards the chaos surrounding him, the team leader broke into a run towards the glowing ball of light, doing the one thing he hated most, he dismissed his own rules and stepped into the anomaly, with no knowledge on what he was getting himself into.

Becker took a step forward, moving onto the pavement of the empty street ahead of him. The anomaly shimmered delicately in the woods behind, out of sight to anyone who walked or drove across the roads. A pair of feet hit the ground behind him. He didn't need to look. The soldier knew exactly who had followed him. Matt.

"How about you get Jayme and we leave, we can't afford to let anyone catch us, clearly we're at a point in time where there's plenty of people about," The team leader stated, observing the mass buildings in front of them, letting out a silent breath of relief as he failed to spot any onlookers.

Becker spared him a glance before wandering towards a back-alley behind the buildings, hoping to avoid as many people as they could. "Jayme?" The soldier called as he walked, turning to look down the streets. The area they were in seemed to be more of a run-down section of the town, there were windows bordered up, no life in sight, dirt spread out across the pavements, he wasn't surprised that they hadn't seen anyone.

"What are you two doing here?" A voice behind them questioned, causing the two men slight surprise.

"Looking for you, now let's go," Matt responded, placing a hand on her shoulder in attempt to guide her back to the anomaly, an act that seemed more to mirror a parent taking a child home rather than anything else.

"You're kidding me, right?" The brunette stated, raising an eyebrow at him, "Amanda's here, I've got the number plate of the vehicle and I overheard where the driver was taking her, I'm not going back. You'd be crazy to suggest otherwise,"

"So you want to go on a wild goose chase?"

"I want to stop before she hurts anyone else, do you really think it's best to just leave her here, let her get away with whatever she's up to. No way, I am not letting her slip away this time, I'm going after her. Now you two can go back if you want, but it'll be without me,"

"And me," Becker added, slinging the EMD casually over his shoulder as he stepped to the side of the brunette, raising both eyebrows at the team leader as he faced him.

"Do you really have to be so stubborn?" Matt questioned in an annoyed tone, "Fine," He stated, an obvious reluctance in his voice, "We'll stay, just one question, where exactly are we?" He queried, glancing between Jayme and Becker, waiting for some sort of answer from someone, anyone, as to what time period they had walked in on.

Connor rushed over towards the anomaly, eyes following the movement of the shards of energy before turning to Kate for an explanation, "Are you trying to tell me that they ran through the anomaly?" The man questioned. The mayhem around the car park had only just begun to settle down, the smoke now cut off from the source and slowly diminishing into the air surrounding them, and he had arrived back to the scene to find the anomaly unlocked and Danny and Kate arguing.

"Kate saw Matt run after Becker who was running after Jayme," Danny began, glancing over at the female soldier to check he'd said it right, "And then they ran through the anomaly, but she won't let me go after them,"

"Because it's reckless and we really don't need to lose another team member right now, _and_ it's been like twenty minutes, you'll never find them. I would have gotten the information to you sooner but I was slightly preoccupied with the fact that people were _dying_ in there," Kate shouted, waving a hand towards the damaged building behind them.

"Look, I'm sure they know what they're doing, and Matt would have wanted us to stay on this side and keep everything in check here. Jayme will be fine, Danny, she's got two people who won't let anything happen to her, we just have to trust that they went in there for a reason, and that they'll get back out," Connor told them, briefly wondering how he got into this position, calming others down from acting irrationally and instinctively, usually it was the other way round.

"What do we do about the anomaly, leave it unlocked?" Kate queried, turning her attention back on Connor, not wanting to admit that she literally had no idea how to handle the situation, do they leave it locked or unlocked? There were a number of possible consequences from both actions.

"How about we find out where it leads to before we do anything?" Danny suggested, prompting Connor to pull out the dating calculator from the car.

He hadn't need to use this in a while, not now that he'd invented and installed one into the ADD, except they hadn't had time to get any info from Jess before arriving, it had all happened so suddenly, and by that point there didn't seem any need to know. The little device sprung to life as Connor activated it, holding it out to take in the readings from the glowing anomaly. He stared down at the screen held in his hands, watching as four numbers appeared, uncertainty falling over his features as his gaze moved back up to meet Danny and Kate. "I'm not sure whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing,"

.

**A/N: So, basically this is going to be the last update for about two months, please don't hurt me. I have a ton of revision and all of that for exams and I really need to limit my distractions. 24****th**** of June is my last one, I think, so I'll be able to go back to writing then. It's less than two months away, but I'm going to miss this book, and of course, I'll miss my awesome readers :)**


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine: What Now?

"Okay, this is strange," Matt stated, bringing his pace to a halt as they approached the end of the alley. The streets of London ahead were the complete opposite of the empty, abandoned ones by the anomaly. There was the small bustle of people all going to work, or fulfilling whatever commitments they had to attend to, and a few cars covering the road. Definitely not many, which meant they were in a time where many couldn't afford a vehicle; although they did find it fairly peculiar to not see the lines of endless traffic stretched out across every inch of the road. It didn't look natural. However, the strange part was how different everything looked in general, at first they had figured they weren't that far forward or back in time, but this had to be at least eighty years ago.

"Wait a minute," Becker began, moving forward slightly to get a better look, leading Jayme to wait on his word for whatever was bothering him, "Is that the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost?" He questioned, his expression mimicking that of a kid on Christmas day as he turned back to look at them, it only lasted for a second, soon enough his eyes were glued back to the car.

"I'm sorry, you were checking out a car? I figured it would be something that actually concerned us?" The brunette stated, raising her eyebrows at the soldier.

"Hey, I think it is," Matt added, leading Jayme to sigh. He followed Becker's gaze to the vehicle parked on the opposite side of the road, "I've always wondered what it'd be like to drive one of those,"

"I know, I-"

"Okay guys, that's great and everything, but can we focus the attention back on the reason why we're here," Jayme interrupted, hitting the two on their arms to drag their attention away, "We're going to really stand out wearing these, so we need to change, or does that interfere with your plans to stare at a car all day?"

"Not just any car," Matt stated, sharing an amused glance with Becker before focusing his attention back on the brunette, "Anyway, how do you expect to manage that. If you haven't noticed, there are people all over the streets, there's no way we won't draw attention to ourselves first,"

"Wow, you actually noticed other things besides the car that you two have fallen in love with, _that's great_," Jayme responded, voice thick with sarcasm, "We'll go through a shop's back door," She added, answering his question and acting as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And how do we get to this 'back door' without going out there," The team leader queried, folding his arms and waiting for the response.

"I was actually thinking we just go through this door, right here," She suggested, pointing toward the wooden door just a few feet back down the alley, judging by the name on it, Jayme was guessing it sold clothes. "Anyway, aren't soldiers meant to be observant, Anderson?" The brunette questioned, sending a raised eyebrow at the men before beginning to walk towards the door.

The two jogged over to catch up, Matt falling to one side while Becker slid around the other, catching her off guard, "Maybe I was just too distracted by you," He whispered subtly in her ear, tracing a hand across her back as he passed; his words triggering a smile that was out of her control.

"Either that or the car," She added, causing him to smirk, and Matt to raise an eyebrow at the two.

"Let's hope this doesn't make too much noise," The soldier went on to say, ignoring the look the team leader was giving him. Speaking of which, Becker was beginning to gather that Matt probably knew a lot more than the brunette and himself had wanted to let on, and truth be told, he wasn't surprised, his subtly didn't always work as well as he hoped around Jayme Cutter.

Being as gentle as he could, Becker kicked the locked door wide open, letting it swing against the wall inside. The room ahead was quite dim, only being lit by the outside world, but the railings of clothes looked relatively organised and clean, making this small job both easy and quick. The range of clothes were pretty much as extensive as suits for men, dresses for women, it was clear that trousers hadn't become very common yet for females, which wasn't ideal to say the least, especially if she was chasing after someone.

As the brunette passed the railings, she picked the first outfit that appeared to fit and wandered behind a large pile of boxes to change, leaving the two men to find their own outfits of this decade. It didn't take long for her, and just as she hoped, the dress fit. It was definitely nothing like her usual attire; instead she was wearing a simple strappy cream dress with elegant tassels at the edge of the fabric which brought it down to the knee in length, covering the dress was a cream lace and to top it off were the elbow-length matching gloves, a set of small pearls, and a pair of heels found in a box in the corner; this shouldn't pose any problems for fitting in. She crouched down to the ground, taking her knife from the set of clothes, giving herself a moment to think. After finally deciding that there wasn't going to be an easily manageable and conspicuous way of hiding it, she simply held onto the weapon and gathered the rest of her clothes from the floor.

"I'm pretty sure I look ridiculous in this, but I guess it'll have to do," The brunette stated as she wandered out from behind the curtain, glancing over at the two men.

"I'm pretty sure ridiculous was not the word I was going to use," Becker responded, giving her a sly onceover, taking a moment before prying his eyes away from her.

"I'm pretty sure you two are nauseating," Matt added, smirking at the pair, before turning back to the clothes railing, "I can't find the right jacket to go with this suit," He murmured, his hands wandering along the different outfits.

"Now you know how we felt when you and Em got together, it's called payback, Anderson," Becker retorted, before adding, "I think I saw a jacket earlier,"

"This might go," The team leader stated, holding up the dark piece of clothing, leading both he and Becker to examine the colours.

"You've got to be kidding, you two are worse than Jess," Jayme interrupted, staring at the two in amazement, "Okay, I know how important it is to look good in front of people who don't belong to our time and who we'll never see again, ever, but can you just hurry this process up," The brunette stated, dumping her clothes, and theirs, in a box and placing it in the corner of the alley outside. "We'll set fire to that after we're ready to go,"

"Why exactly are you planning on burning our clothes, Jayme?" Becker questioned, straightening the skinny tie he wore against the dark charcoal suit which she couldn't help but notice looked far too good on him; so much for trying to avoid distractions on this mission.

"We can't leave them here for people to find. If we don't come back this way then they'd be out there for everyone to see, Becker," The brunette responded, mimicking the same tone he used to say her own name, rolling the words off the tongue in an obvious sort of way.

"Sorted," Matt interjected; in a tone that Jayme wasn't completely sure was meant as a question towards the two, or a statement about himself, either way, it pulled her attention away from the smile she found herself sharing with a certain brown-haired soldier. All of which only led her to realise that her feelings for him may be stronger than she had previously thought. And in all honesty, that scared her, quite a bit.

"Not completely," Jayme began, trying to block out intruding thoughts as she flipped the knife so that the handle faced Becker, "I need you to hold on to this for me,"

"And here I thought you'd find a way to hide that," Matt stated.

"Not in this dress, don't think it would be that easy," She added, handing the knife to Becker before grabbing a dark hat from a shelf near them, "Here, it adds to the look," The brunette told him, placing the hat on his head as she passed, ignoring the all too familiar smirk of Matt Anderson who casually trailed behind.

Striking a match from the packet he had been carrying, Becker set the box alight, allowing the flame to grow as they slid out of the alley, mixing in to the streets of London as best as they could, and travelling as far away from the scene as possible. Trying to blend into a time that neither of the three held any experience in was definitely strange, they weren't completely sure how to act. All they knew was to not draw any unnecessary attention towards them, just in case.

"Do you have a plan?" Matt questioned, keeping his voice low as they passed the various bystanders on the old streets of London.

"I told you, I know where she's going,"

"Yeah, but do you know where that is? It's not exactly the twenty-first century anymore,"

"Thanks Matt, I had no idea," Jayme began, glancing over to him as they walked, "If it's where I'm thinking, the house is still standing in our time, it's this old, grand building. She's been there once before in the present, I followed her through an anomaly that opened there, I'm think that's where she's going anyway,"

"You think? So you don't actually know for sure?"

"Just trust me on this one?" The brunette responded, looking over for a sign of approval, "Please,"

"It's your call then,"

"How far away is it?" Becker queried, taking a quick observation of their surroundings; from what he could see, there was no large house around here, mostly just businesses and smaller homes.

"Not far, at least it shouldn't be; it's across from those trees. You don't tend to see the house until you get past those,"

The three set off across the street, heading onto a small dirt road ahead, one surrounded by a light forest of trees. Jayme wobbled slightly after a small ordeal with a stone embedded in the path, realising quickly that walking along this road was definitely not fun in heels; nevertheless, she adjusted to the awkwardness. As they neared the end of the road; they found that hiding amongst the trees would be a bit more conspicuous, just for the small chance that someone was outside the house; they really couldn't afford to be seen. The familiarity of the house in question eased into Jayme's mind as it came into view, though it seemed to be standing in a much better state than it was in the present. The ivy on the grey stones that built the house was tidy and fresh, unlike the dying branches that clung to the house in the present, the garden was neither abandoned nor neglected, in fact it was tidily kept, and the empty windows from the present were filled with glass now; it was strange how one house could look so different after all these years.

Except it wasn't the house that was drawing the attention of the men, it was the nervous looking woman standing at the edge of the steps leading to the front door that their eyes were focused on, someone who Jayme had failed to notice as she checked the other details of the scene. The car in the driveway was the same car that Amanda had driven away in, but the woman by the steps was definitely not the driver, and the brunette wasn't completely sure who she was. Not once in her mission after Amanda had she come across her. Then again, she may not be involved directly, she certainly didn't look like she could stomach the kind of life Amanda leads, she was barely holding herself together at this moment, never mind any other time.

"Ok, plan-maker, what are you going to do now?" The Irish man questioned, leaning against one of the trees, making sure to keep out of sight from the house ahead. Without a word, or any form of response or signal, the brunette simply walked out from the forest and towards the house, keeping herself looking confident and composed. "Or you could just do that," Matt added, sending Becker a slightly apprehensive look as they watched her wander up to the front of the house. There was no way either of them liked this plan, if Amanda was around, she would recognise Jayme, and that would completely give away any upper-hand they possessed. "What the hell is she thinking?"

"Don't ask me, when she's determined she'll do just about anything," Becker responded, keeping his eyes completely glued to her. If this didn't work out how she wanted it to, he desperately hoped she had a back-up plan. He wasn't even sure how he would react if things took a turn for the worst now, not after everything that's happened, not with everything he felt.

"Damn it," Was all the soldier heard from Matt before the team leader went jogging off towards Jayme. It took Becker a few seconds to recapture his thoughts before he was on Matt's tail, not really noticing what had just happened until he looked closely. "What are you doing?" The Irish man exclaimed, reaching Jayme who held a knife to the woman's throat. The two were against a wall, out of sight from the house windows, but if anyone were to have seen them before they moved, this whole thing was blown.

"Getting answers," The brunette stated, turning her head for a second to face him before planting her eyes back on the small woman in front of her. She was very thin, so thin it was almost as if you could see the outline of her skeleton through the skin. Her eyes were red, and slightly puffy, had she been crying? It seemed hard to not wonder why, she was in no good condition; it was more of a heartbreaking and poignant sight than anything else. Except Jayme didn't have time to ask or worry about why she was in this state, instead she needed answers, so she switched her mind back to the mission and let all sympathetic thoughts fade away. "Who are you?" She questioned; a certain fierce and determined tone in her voice that led Becker to only feel more worried about her.

The young woman was shaking, but her eyes remained focussed on Jayme, and it was only the sheer chill of the knife to her throat that stole away her complete attention, "I can't tell you,"

"Didn't you have the knife?" Matt murmured to Becker, keeping his voice low to not intrude on the scene.

"He did, I took it before I came over here," Jayme interjected, not moving her gaze from the woman.

"She's sly, I'll give her that," The soldier stated, half in admiration, half in confusion; he hadn't given a second thought about the knife until Matt brought it up, how did she manage to take it without him noticing anyway.

"Now, I'm going to ask you again, and this time, I want an answer,_ who are you_?" The knife pressed further against her throat, and the apprehension Becker felt only built up further. This was a side of her he had never actually seen in action, and that worried him.

"That's not important; please, just tell me what you want?" Pleading, desperation, she was either a very good actress, or she feared Amanda, which meant she wasn't working for her willingly.

"I want Amanda, where is she?"

Hesitation, nervous glances, she couldn't help but feel pity towards the woman, but that couldn't get in her way, "In the house,"

"What is she doing here?"

No answer.

"_What _is she doing here?" Jayme repeated, raising her voice dangerously, using as much force on the knife as she could without piercing the skin.

"She-she's visiting someone, there's a man here; he's helping her with her mission. He's not from this time, none of us are. That's all I know, I swear. Please don't hurt me," The brunette couldn't deny that the vulnerability and fear in the woman's voice tore at her; but she also couldn't have the woman getting to Amanda before she did. She released the knife from her throat, and brought the edge of the handle down hard to her head. Swiftly reaching out, she caught the falling woman, resting her body down gently on the grass.

"What did you do?" Matt questioned, speaking up from the prolonged silence he didn't want to undergo.

"She's only knocked out, she'll wake up soon enough, I just can't risk her telling Amanda anything beforehand," Jayme informed, standing up and passing the knife to Becker, all the while keeping her eyes focussed solely on Matt, "Do you honestly believe I'm going to intentionally kill someone who isn't a part of this?"

"I don't know, Jayme, would you?"

"You clearly don't know me very well if you think I'd kill someone for no reason. I'm not my mother!"

"I didn't say you were, and maybe you're right, maybe I don't you _that_ well. But are you honestly saying you'd never kill somebody, not even after everything you've been through, not even with how important this mission is to you?"

And by that, her calm expression failed her, and she couldn't help but feel a certain twang of pain fall through her, "Matt, I'm not a killer. I'm not saying if it came down to it that I wouldn't ever kill someone, because if it's me or Amanda, or if she tries to hurt someone I care about, then yes, I will do what I have to do. But I'm not a cold-hearted murderer, and to be honest, I figured you would already have known that. This mission is important, it's important because I need to stop Amanda before she does tries to take control, before she kills anyone else, before she destroys time. For god's sake she put your fiancé in the hospital! Understand? I need to be able to count on you two to realise what I'm doing. If I can't, then you can easily go back through that anomaly and I'll do this alone,"

"You're not doing this alone, Jayme, don't be stupid," Becker cut in, stealing her gaze from Matt as he spoke, "You know you can count on me, when have I ever given you a reason not to?"

"You haven't," She admitted, the volume of her voice decreasing dramatically.

"Look, I'm not saying you can't count on me either, I just want to make sure you know what you're doing, I need to know your level-headed in this," Matt stated, "I don't like following people blindly, you can do this by keeping us informed, otherwise I can't trust you,"

"Fine," The brunette responded, clear reluctance in her voice, that is until a sudden thought made the whole situation feel a little easier to do, "So, in light of this new rule of yours, I can promise you that my next move is to turn, walk towards the house, and cautiously open the door, will that be ok with you?" She added, keeping a certain degree of sarcasm in her voice as she spoke.

At that Matt couldn't help but smile, "Sure, that's ok," He stated, glancing over at Becker who chose to ignore the two as they spoke, he was beginning to find this conversation hard to take seriously.

"Let's go, then," Jayme suggested, focussing her attention back on the house as she walked towards the large front door. Everything about this house screamed expensive, the balcony above, the huge windows edged with thick, velvet curtains, no one could deny that it wasn't impressive. Unlike the state it was in back in the present, the door in this time period opened with ease, lacking any creak or scraping that would draw attention. As they entered, for a second the three could've sworn they heard voices, a conversation, but as soon as anyone could focus in on the words being said, they were gone.

"Now, you're ok with us walking in this direction, right?" Jayme murmured, aiming her slightly sarcastic comment at the team leader as they stood by the door.

"Just walk," Matt responded, shaking his head at her as the brunette led them in the direction of where the voices were heard, but the room in which they ended up in held no sign of people. The only reason they knew for a fact Amanda had been here was due to one very obvious indication situated in the middle of the room. One golden anomaly.

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**A/N: I'm back :) **

***Desperately hoping someone, somewhere may have possibly missed me? Just a little bit?* **

**Anyway, exams are over, so I can happily continue with this fanfiction. Nearly finished. Only two or three chapters left to go. Wonder what'll happen? ;) **


	30. Chapter Thirty: Amanda

Jess watched with worried eyes as Danny carried on pacing across the ARC's main control room. It had been like this ever since the team arrived back from the anomaly site, except they had arrived back without Matt, Becker or Jayme. That was the problem. That was what everyone was worrying about. It had only been about one hour, perhaps an hour and a half; to be perfectly honest, Jess wasn't sure; worry had wormed its way into her own mind and twisted everything. She found it difficult to think about anything logically. But her problems weren't the issue here; it was Danny's that were worrying her. After being dragged away from the anomaly site by Kate and Connor, he had been ordered to stay here by Lester to ensure he didn't do anything reckless. That wasn't something Danny had liked at all, but he wasn't about to disobey orders just yet, he knew deep down that it was the right thing to do. He just hoped they were all safe.

"Any word on them?" He queried as Connor entered the room, causing Kate and Jess to avert their attention away from the pacing Danny.

"No, we've got a lot of soldiers down their making sure if anything comes out of the anomaly it's them, but nothing's happened yet," Connor informed, joining Jess by the ADD and collapsing into one of the chairs.

"Yeah, well no dinosaurs are coming through, it's 1921 through there," Kate added, trying to deliver some form of comfort to the ex-team leader as he continued pacing. It didn't work.

"So, do we just wait?" Jess asked, looking over to Kate, and then to Connor for answers. "How is waiting going to fix anything, what if the anomaly closes? What do we do then?"

"We can't do anything, Jess. We're not meant to go through the anomalies, and even if we do, how would we find them?"

"Matt went through the anomaly. Clearly if he thinks it was necessary why are we still sticking to the rule?"

"Matt would want us to. We've got to stay here and do what we can. They'll make it back, it'll all work out fine," Kate responded, taking the burden off Connor for a few moments as Jess quizzed him on everything that they were all secretly thinking.

"But they went after Amanda, what if she does something to them? What if that was her plan all along? What if-"

Her words were cut off by the harsh sound of glass hitting the floor, breaking into a fountain of tiny shards cutting through the air. Her voice seemed caught in her throat as her heart pounded so hard it felt like her chest was going to break. They all seemed to be staring at the remains of the glass of water on the floor, Danny standing next to it, hands placed firmly on the desk in the place it was previously sitting. It was silent for a while. Too long. That is until Kate stood up, her footsteps sounding ten times louder than they actually were in the still room.

"They'll be ok, Danny," The soldier assured, resting her hand on his. She hadn't expected to see him like this, he was usually very confident, to an incredibly cocky degree, always joking and light hearted, if he ever did worry during the time she'd known him, he knew how to hide it; except for now.

He turned to face her, trying to drag any sense of calmness back to his presence. There was just one question that lingered in his mind that brought with it so many levels of stress and worry, "What if they're not?"

Jayme, Becker and Matt stood watching the anomaly, it wasn't exactly what they expected to find, although come to think of it, it should've been an option on the list. "Want to know what I'm thinking now, Matt?" The brunette questioned, leading a smirk to form on Becker's face, was she really going to keep this up? "I'm thinking about going through the anomaly, what are your thoughts on that?" She asked, turning to face him, raising her eyebrows.

"You know what; I take back what I said, I don't need to know everything you're planning on doing. I trust you, happy?" The team leader queried, the irritation evident in his voice.

"Yeah, actually I am, thanks. But I guess the question does remain, are we going through. It makes sense, whoever Amanda was meeting probably went through there with her, I know we don't know where it leads, but it's worth a shot,"

"What if it's a trap?" Becker questioned, after all it could just as easily be a way for Amanda to get rid of them, assuming that she had figured out that they had followed her.

"I don't think it is,"

"Why not?" Matt asked, walking ahead and peering into the room beside this one. It was empty. There was no sign of anyone else in the house; the only problem was that that didn't mean there was no one still here.

"I don't know, it's just what feels right, but we have to make a decision,"

"We're going then," The one to call the shots was Becker this time, and truthfully, no one saw any reason to disagree. So, for the second time that day, the three walked on through another anomaly, entering whatever time was behind the light.

The only sound that seemed to disrupt the newly formed silence in the ARC's main control room was the sudden music escaping Danny's phone. "It's Becker," The ex-team leader stated before answering the call, leading Connor, Kate and Jess to hang onto every word that was said to try and figure out what was going on.

"Where are you?" Danny spoke down the phone, wandering across the room to keep his feet busy.

"_Remember what I told you when we had just arrived on the anomaly site, about what I decided we should do about Amanda?" _The voice that spoke back wasn't Becker's, it was Jayme's; thank god they were all ok.

"About where she's hiding?"

"_Exactly. I said we needed to start acting properly, that Amanda had the upper-hand for too long. Well, I think I'm right about where she was hiding; I'm there now either way. Get Jess to track the signal, if it's where I said it might be then do what we were planning on doing, find the entrance. We're going to need help, Danny, get the team over here. This ends now," _And with that, the line went dead.

"What's going on?" Connor asked, jumping to his feet the minute Danny was off the phone.

"Jess, I need you to track Becker's phone signal, find out where it is," Danny stated, feeling more determined than ever now that he knew he could finally do something. Standing there waiting for something to happen while Matt, Becker and Jayme were gone wasn't his idea of fun.

"Yeah, I can do that. What happened to the 1920's?"

"I'm guessing they went through another anomaly, they're where Amanda's working, we have an idea of where that is but we need confirmation. And then we all need to get there. Connor I want you tell everyone at the anomaly site to lock it, and then keep a couple there until it fully closes, the rest need to come with us. Kate, get weapons, we don't know what's going to happen and it'll help if we're armed Got it?"

To Connor, Danny giving orders felt as natural as it would be it Matt or Nick, for Kate, it was slightly different. Either way, the two simply nodded in response, going off to do their jobs without another word while Jess narrowed down the location. Just as Jayme had predicted, the location popped up on the ADD screen in the exact place where they assumed Amanda was working; the place where they encountered the first of the future jaguars.

"Isn't that where-"

"Yeah," Danny cut her off instantly, "I need you to look for underground systems, anywhere there could be access to it, she's underground, I just don't know how to get to her,"

"Okay," Jess responded, following the orders as quick as possible, and narrowing down different systems around that area.

Danny turned his head as Connor and Kate re-entered the room, before facing the young field co-ordinator once more, "I need you to send it to one of our phones; we're going now,"

Jayme handed the phone back to Becker, sending him a gentle smile before forcing her mind to concentrate on what was going on. After walking through the anomaly, they ended up here, in this strange concrete building. They had concluded quickly that it was some form of underground bunker, there were no windows, the signal was bad; it was the best option. It made sense considering Jayme had figured this was Amanda's hideout, she already knew that the woman used anomalies to get around, and then after hearing her voice in the room ahead, it was all confirmed. Luckily, she didn't come back through into here, so now they were alone to think of a plan.

"What are we going to do?" It was Jayme that spoke this time, glancing at the two men quickly before surveying the room. There wasn't much inside; a few boxes, the anomaly, and a desk. Besides from a bunch of papers on the desk, which ended up proving of no use, there was practically nothing that appeared important.

"Go after her, I guess," Becker stated, grabbing the gun from under his jacket and loading it. "Let's finish this,"

"We should split up," Matt suggested, "We don't how big this place is, and we don't have forever,"

"Won't it be safer if we stick together?"

"We'll cover more ground this way. I'll go through there, Becker you go that way, Jayme you go through that door, and I have my phone if you need to reach me,"

Before either of the two had a chance to argue, Matt had walked off, holding his own gun in hand as he went in search of the woman in question. "I guess we're splitting up, then," The brunette stated, glancing over at Becker and nodding, a silent acknowledgment shared between the two before Jayme managed to pull herself away and leave the room through the door Matt had sent her to.

As she walked through the rooms in the bunker, the brunette was surprised by everything she came across. One room in particular contained extensive maps of an area in the future, circles highlighting certain parts which Jayme didn't have the time to observe closely, although it did explain where the jaguars were coming from. Then there was another room filled only with high-tech technology, computers, screens, data-logs and charts all pinned up around the walls. She knew a lot of research would have been made for Amanda to understand all of this, she just hadn't expected it to be so dense. She was ahead of the ARC, Amanda knew how to open and close anomalies, whether she could do it whenever she pleased was another question. There was some work which stated that they only opened at fixed points rather than anywhere the person would like, that was the one thing Jayme did know already. Although to have the power to open and close anomalies would be risky, in a way she was glad the ARC hadn't delved too far into that aspect of the research; if someone else were to get their hands on it, it could prove extremely dangerous.

There had been times when she had passed rooms that weren't as empty as she would have liked, there were labs down here. Through the small windows of the doors, she could see scientists working on samples, whether they were based on future findings or something else was unknown to her. And then there was the room full of cages, cages of jaguars all ready and waiting. Despite the work she had done to figure out Amanda, she hadn't expected the woman to know this much, or for her work to be this widespread.

As the brunette entered the next room, the first thing she spotted was the handgun sitting on the desk, and rushing over to it, she felt a layer of relief wash over her, it was nice to be armed again. If she'd looked more carefully when entering the room, she'd have noticed the figure standing in the corner, watching her every move. Instead she was caught off guard as the blonde stepped out from the shadows.

"Jayme Cutter, I presume," Amanda stated, stopping in her tracks as she resided a few feet away from her, never letting her gaze drop. "I'd say it's nice to finally meet you but we both know I'd just be lying,"

"Well how about we just cut the crap then, shall we? I don't really want to do the whole fake introductions, you know who I am, I know who you are, the question is who gets to leave here alive," The brunette responded, ignoring the sinking feeling in her gut as her nerves tried to get the best of her, she wouldn't let them. She raised the gun at Amanda, ensuring her own reactions would be sharp enough to match the blonde's. She held the upper-hand at least. She was armed.

"You know you're not getting out of this. As soon as I found out it was you and your precious Danny Quinn that were following me, I made sure that I was ready for any stunts you tried to pull. Needless to say I don't think I underestimated you, you haven't done a single thing that I wasn't prepared for,"

"Is that so?"

"It is. You're not as clever as you think you are, Jayme. Luckily, I can use that as my advantage,"

The brunette smirked, "I've been tracking you for much longer than you've been tracking me, and I have back-up that you don't even know about, even if you do get rid of me, Amanda, you're not getting away with any of this,"

"Back-up? Like the people from the ARC that I put into hospital, and that was only if they were lucky," The blonde retorted, keeping a level of cockiness in her voice and demeanour.

"You'll be paying for what you did," Jayme stated, hoping she could keep her voice as calm as possible, any fault and she'd give Amanda exactly what she was after.

This time it was the blonde's turn to smirk, "I don't think I will," She responded, "But if you want me to pay, go ahead, shoot me," It was a challenge, one that Jayme wasn't going to fall for lightly, or at least she hoped. "You won't though will you; it's all the same with people like you. You think you're better than everyone else because you won't pull the trigger, it doesn't make you stronger; it makes you weaker. Not having the guts go through with what you originally planned is a weakness, and you're just pathetic,"

"No, I'm not," She pressed her finger to the trigger, all the while trying to prepare herself for the shot to ring out, for the body to drop, for the feeling to sink in and make her realise it was all over. But it didn't.

"I did tell you I was prepared, didn't I? It's not a loaded gun; I knew you followed me through the first anomaly, so I figured you would follow me all the way here. I was right," She stated, not holding back any of the self-satisfaction in her voice, "I did say you weren't getting out of this," She added, pulling her own gun from the waistband of the back of her trousers, the end aimed straight at the brunette.

It should've felt like slow-motion, it should've been like a movie where it all works out perfectly, she should've been able to see everything that happened before her eyes. But it all moved too fast. She was sure she would be dead as soon as the gun was aimed for her head; it was exactly how Amanda had planned it. There was a blur though, a familiar voice, and her eyes desperately tried to follow as the blonde was knocked out of the way. She had tried to move forward, to give some assistance, to stop Amanda, but despite best efforts she felt a force stop her from moving. And the sound of the gunshot echoed through her ears. For a few fleeting seconds, everything stood still, and her eyes stopped blurring and the scene was clear cut in front of her. And then the fire set in and it was almost like paralysis as she felt the pain shoot through her side. Her own fingers touched the skin, through a tear in the fabric, and the blood soon met her hands, forcing its way out from the wound. A gun flew across the floor. Amanda was no longer on the ground. And the person who tried to save her was the same brown-haired soldier who she had met over three years ago. Their eyes connected for a desperate second, and then the image of Becker was torn out of her sight as she fell to the floor. She heard her name. It came to her as quickly as the chill from the concrete did, it echoed in her mind just as the shot had, and it clung to her just as the bullet did. But the pain overwhelmed all sense from her thoughts, and she was left lying on the floor, succumbing to the faintness, and holding onto all hope that even if she wasn't ok, Becker would be.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One: End Of Days

Matt stopped dead in the room he was in, his heart beating that little bit faster as the faint sound of a gunshot sent shockwaves through the walls. He didn't have time to react, or think about what had just happened. All sense of action was cut off as the hatch above him opened, sending a rush of daylight into the room. He could hear familiar voices, but before he was given the chance to identify them, he was met face on with Danny who hit his feet off the floor as he landed.

"Nice to see you, mate," He stated, patting the surprised team leader on the shoulder as he moved out of the way to make room for the next person. Soon enough, Connor and Kate joined them in the room, all armed with weapons, all waiting for whatever happened next.

"I see you guys made it," Matt responded, before the sound of the shot dawned on him, and he soon realised they were running out of time. "We have to find Amanda," He added, moving swiftly past them as he headed straight through a door behind, trying to figure out where the shot had come from.

"What's happened?" Kate questioned, "Where's Becker and Jayme?"

"I don't know, we split up, but someone's fired a gun, and we need to get to them. If something's happened, I'll never forgive myself," Was all the Irish man said before returning to his search, moving quick on his feet.

"Why wouldn't you forgive yourself, what did you do?" Connor asked; the worrying feeling building up as he prayed that nothing bad had happened.

"I'm the one who said to split up,"

Both Becker and Amanda stood facing each other, neither in possession of any weapons, both had been knocked out of each other's hands in the fight. He could barely concentrate on his own life right now, his eyes were watching the blonde, but his mind was solely focused on Jayme. She was shot. He didn't know how much time she had, he didn't know if all time was up, all he knew was that she was lying a few feet behind Amanda with a bullet in her side, and the mass of blood completely diminishing any calmness he could have felt.

"It's you or her," Amanda informed, keeping her eyes rested on the soldier ahead of her, "Leave now and I won't kill you, and trust me that's not an offer I give very often"

"I'm not leaving without her," Becker responded, gritting his teeth firmly together after the words were out, forcing himself to not look too weak in front of her; he couldn't give her an opportunity to strike. It wasn't doing much good. The oxygen was sucked from his lungs, and the air he breathed felt thick as he gasped. His eyes stung in anguish, tears threatening to expose themselves. He couldn't let them. He felt useless. But he didn't want her to use that against him. He couldn't. If he had one shot at saving Jayme, then this was it, and he couldn't let her have the upper-hand. He desperately forced himself to forget the way his stomach tied itself in knots, the way the pressure built inside of his chest and his heart, threatening to break free. Control. It was all about control. He could do this. He had to do this.

"You love her," The blonde stated, although the way the words were spoken, Becker couldn't be certain whether or not it was actually a question, but the tone was mixture of shock and aversion, no matter how calm she wanted it to sound.

"How about I let you go, and promise to not go after you?"

"I don't think your little girlfriend would want that, she's been on my trail for quite a while, her and Danny Quinn. But you're not him, so who are you?"

"You don't need to know,"

The words that were passed back and forth were faint, but as the seconds ticked on and her brain tried to wake, they rose in volume, and she could finally understand what was being said. Her eyelids felt heavy, too heavy, but she needed them open, she needed to see what was happening. She had to stay strong. It took time for her vision to clear, too much time, but soon enough she could see her hands against the cold concrete, and two pairs of feet ahead of her. The intensity of the wound pulsated through her veins, and it was almost like she could taste the pain, travelling all across her body in hyperdrive. If she could ignore it, she would, nevertheless, she desperately tried to push it to the back of her mind for now; she needed to concentrate. But a new sound caused her body to internally jump, and the alarm echoed loudly in her ears as she tried to focus on regaining some form of strength.

"What's that?" Becker questioned, looking up at the red light flashing against the wall, the alarm disturbing the silence they were once in.

"Unauthorised access, which means someone else knows you or whoever else you're with is here, which also means that you don't have much time. This is why you shouldn't go up against me,"

Numbing out the sound, the brunette looked around at her surroundings as best as she could as she lay on the floor. She couldn't draw attention to herself, no matter how much she wanted to let Becker know she was alive, no matter how much she wanted to see him. His gun lay further away from him, discarded underneath a desk, out of his reach. Then there were the two handguns, the one closest was the unloaded one, the one further away, was the loaded one. If only she could reach.

"I did tell you that you could have saved yourself," The blonde informed the soldier, before averting her attention to the caramel skinned man that entered the room. Antonio. He held his own gun towards the soldier, allowing Amanda to move from the position she was glued to.

"I see you've run into a few problems while I've been away," Antonio stated, his words thick with his usual Spanish accent, "You, against the wall," He ordered, signalling with his gun as he manoeuvred the soldier to the wall, and out of the way.

"Nothing we can't handle," Amanda responded, reaching down to pick up her own handgun from the floor, the small bit of anxiety that she previously felt no longer possessing a single part of her mind.

"You almost didn't handle it, there are others in the building; I used the alarm to warn everyone, you know well enough that we can't stay here now that it's been exposed. Turner has everything backed-up, all the research, all the technology, we can get new predators, but we aren't leaving this place intact,"

"You built a failsafe?"

"I had to; I didn't trust that no one would ever find this place, which is why I had everything backed-up. We need to go, if you want a head start I suggest you deal with him quickly and leave. Can I trust that you can handle that while I activate it, we'll only have a few minutes to get out of here?"

"Go," The blonde ordered, aiming her own gun towards the soldier as soon as Antonio had left the room. A failsafe. Everything in here would be obliterated. He trusted Turner with the back-ups and yet he didn't trust her enough to even inform her about any of this. She couldn't dwell on that right now. If they didn't leave, she'd die. "I guess it's a shame you can't live, but at least you can join your girlfriend," Amanda stated, her eyes focussed solely on Becker as he kept eye contact, still trying to remain as strong as he could in front of the enemy. He prepared himself for what was to come, all the while keeping his eyes on the blonde; he wasn't going down like a coward. She pressed the trigger once again. Only this time nothing happened. No gunshot. No bullet. Nothing. Becker watched in confusion, Amanda soon feeling a dread of panic and pressing the trigger numerous times, a desperate attempt to seal his fate.

"I hate it when that happens, don't you?" The blonde spun around, her heart beat increasing as she faced the brunette. This wasn't how she planned it; this wasn't how it was meant to go down. She was supposed to shoot the soldier and join Antonio. That's how it was planned. "Sorry you can't go off and join your boyfriend," Jayme began, making sure to keep eye contact with the blonde as she raised the gun in her hand, "But I have other plans. This is for everything, shooting me, hurting Emily, killing people. You're the weak one, Amanda, not me," The brunette stated, and with that, the trigger was pulled. Another gunshot. The sound seemed to shake the entire room, the shockwave of energy tingling across skin, but rattling their bones. And her body hit the floor. Despite the strength and adrenaline she had forced into herself, the brunette felt it disperse quickly, and she was left with the empty feeling of faintness washing over her once more. She could hear footsteps, rushing towards her. She could see Amanda lying on the floor, eyes open, not moving. Was it over?

"Jayme," It was almost like before, hearing her name called by him. But it was different this time, the touch of his skin sent warmth across hers, and his nearness alone gave her a safety that only he could provide. "Hey," He whispered, lowering them both down to the floor as she lay against his body for support.

"You have to go," She murmured, holding her hands to the skin to slow the bleeding, "They're blowing up the bunker," She stated, wincing as the wound stretched slightly from the movement.

"I told you I'm not leaving you," The soldier whispered, feeling the prickle of tears from earlier escape his eye, one rolling gently down his cheek as he held his gaze, watching the blue eyes look up at him.

"You never do as you're told," She responded, giving him a shaky smile.

"I didn't leave you three years ago, and I'm not leaving you now," Becker told her, "Jayme, you're strong enough to do this, there's no way I'm letting you die on me, not now, not like this,"

"I don't think I can-" She quickly swallowed the rushing fear in the back of her throat, taking a small breath before looking back up at him, "I feel numb," And she was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if she didn't make it out of this. Death was a scary thing for most, and she had never let it have an effect on her until now.

"It's ok, it's going to be ok; you'll be ok. They said there are others here, Danny will be here, he'll have brought help," The soldier assured, trying more to convince himself than her. She had to be alright, there was no other way. He couldn't live without her in his life. That was a feeling that had been dawning on him for a while now. He wasn't going to let her go without a fight; and that, he would admit out loud. "I love you, Jayme,"

Those words, those were the kind of words that weren't just heard, they were felt. Deep down inside, they sent shivers throughout her body, not because she was scared of him, but because she was scared that if she would say it back, and things wouldn't work out, it would hurt more than the pain she felt right now. But as her heart crumbled, and the vulnerability of his voice echoed in her ears, she fought for the strength to speak without shaking, simply because she wanted him to know that despite her weaknesses, he was her strength. "Becker, I love you too,"

"We're going to make it through this," He stated, feeling a whole new wave of power and determination inside of him that numbed out the alarm and the way time was ticking away, and the fact that neither knew how long they had until the failsafe was fully activated. He found it hard to keep the calm in his voice, it was breaking, and it wasn't until now that he realised he was shaking slightly. He cradled her in his arms, holding her close as he stood up, ignoring the weapons that lay forgotten on the ground. Instead he moved quickly though the room, desperately trying to map out a way to leave this place.

'_Five minutes until activation' _

"What was that?" Connor questioned, the nerves sinking in as he and Danny moved through the rooms, trying to find Becker and Jayme. Matt was reluctantly waiting by the hatch, so they could find their way back, whereas Kate split off from the group, hoping that they could cover more ground and get out of this place.

"I have no idea," Danny responded, "We need to hurry,"

The room they ended up in gave a sinking feeling to both of the men. Discarded weapons. Blood stains. One dead body. Amanda. No one spoke. They both seemed to realise that if she was dead, then there was hope for Becker and Jayme, they had to be ok, how else would they have done this? At the sound of approaching footsteps, the ex-team leader pushed Connor out of the way, holding his gun up to face the archway into the room. The unknown person was rushing, quick footsteps, and they were approaching fast. As soon as the person came into view, his hands were up in the air, surrendering to the gun. Looking closely, Connor identified a hard drive in his hand, he didn't even want to imagine what kind of information it held; there was no way he would want to know what sick plans these people were up to. The man didn't say a word, instead he just held eye contact with the ex-team leader, clearly trained to not talk or give anything away. It only took a moment before he felt as if he had his chance, the man pulled the weapon from behind him, but he wasn't quick enough, Danny pulled the trigger, leaving Connor wide-eyed, glancing between the man on the floor, and the ex-team leader.

"That was Christian Turner, the brains behind a lot of this. Trust me; it was either us or him,"

"I thought you and Jayme didn't know anyone who was working with Amanda apart from the terrorist group?" Connor queried, eyes not leaving the body. It all happened so fast and the pounding of his heart lay as proof of how sudden everything had flashed before his eyes.

"Some things we thought best not to tell," Was all Danny said, before his voice was interrupted by the speaker above him.

'_Four minutes until activation'_

"We have to keep moving. There's a blood trail over there, someone left here injured and as much as I hope it wasn't one of ours-"

"There's a good chance it is," Connor finished, taking a gulp of air before following the trail in a jog.

Matt looked up as the hatch above him clouded over, a person peering down the gap. He felt a little relief. It was Sam, "Danny called us, said we had to meet him here," She stated, gesturing towards the other soldiers, out of which also included Riley and Scott. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but something's going down in less than four minutes and I don't want to be around when it does. Danny, Connor and Kate are looking for... Hold that thought,"

"Matt?" The soldier tried calling for him, but as far as she could see from above, he wasn't in view. Before she even had a chance to go investigate, Connor was climbing up the ladders; and behind him Danny.

'_Three minutes until activation'_

"Why do timers always have to be involved," Connor mumbled, his words coming out both fast and stumbled, and in Connor's world, it was known as a clear sign that he was panicking.

"Matt I need you to get to the top and help me lift her up," Becker ordered, and from what the others could hear from above, his voice was strained, and his mind pounded with so many thoughts and what if's that he could barely see straight.

"What's going on?" Sam questioned, looking between Connor and Danny, their faces both filled with worry.

"Jayme's been shot," Connor responded, moving out the way so that Danny could help the two lift Jayme out from the bunker.

Becker lifted himself out of the hatch, moving quickly to sit near Jayme, taking her from Danny's arms and leaning her against his own body. He moved his fingers to the pulse. It was weak. Too weak.

"Help's on its way," Riley informed, before glancing around the people present, "Where's Kate?"

"She's not back?" Danny questioned, only taking notice to his surroundings now, she wasn't there; "I've got to find her,"

'_Two minutes until activation'_

"That's crazy, I don't know what's getting activated but it's less than two minutes away, it's not safe," Connor exclaimed, eyes widening, everything kept getting worse, and despite the guilty feeling he had for even thinking it amongst it all, he was just glad Abby was safe at home.

"It's a failsafe, the bunker's going to explode," Becker added, eyes meeting Danny's as he looked up. It wasn't hard to see the immense pain the soldier was feeling as the ex-team leader looked at him, but Becker could see his own pain reflected in Danny's eyes, and he knew there was no stopping him from trying to save Kate, no matter what was at risk.

"Wish me luck, then," Danny stated, not wanting anything else to be said on the matter. Before anyone had a chance to argue, he was gone, and the building anxiety that everyone felt at this moment rose to unbelievable levels.

"How's she doing?" Connor questioned, moving over to Becker. He couldn't help but picture the time he was sat next to Nick, a bullet in him, watching him suffer, watching him die. He didn't want the same thing to happen here. The Nick from that memory was a clone. But the real Nick, the Nick they all knew would be destroyed if his daughter died, he didn't even want to think about how anyone would tell him.

"She's still breathing, but..." His words trailed off, he didn't want to have to say it; he didn't want to face how severe it was becoming.

"But?" Connor questioned, and from that, Becker realised quickly that he had no choice.

"But she won't wake up," The soldier responded, turning his attention back down to the brunette in his arms. There was so much blood, so much life escaping just out of reach. It didn't matter if he closed his eyes; he could still see her, pasted on the inside of his lids. He couldn't escape it. Neither could she. "Connor, I can't lose her, not again," The other man winced at the fragile words, the vulnerability in his voice, it tore straight through him. It was very rare to see him so shattered, and he knew that this time was the worst of them all. "Please don't die on me," It was barely above a whisper, and no one but Connor could hear his words. A small sob escaped him, one he was trying to keep under control, and he covered his mouth with one hand, keeping her steady with the other as his own body trembled. Any sense of calmness failed him. He mumbled incoherent things, words that not even Connor could understand, and he choked on his silent cries. He choked on his heart, and tried so desperately to stay composed in front of everybody, to stay strong for her, but it wouldn't work. Nothing seemed to work. "Hey, you can do this, I need you, Jayme," He murmured down to her, taking her hands in his as he held her close, "Just hold on, please just hold on,"

'_One minute until activation'_

"Damn it, where are they?" Sam murmured, forcing herself to keep it together despite the nerves that ate at her, that ate at everyone.

'_Thirty seconds'_

"I need help!" It was Danny's voice. A shout. They were definitely cutting it close.

"We need to move everyone else out of here," Scott stated, "We'll be too close to the explosion,"

It took both Connor and Matt to knock the life back into Becker so he would get to his feet. He kept hold of the brunette, and Matt rounded up the team to the edge of the clearing.

"Get Kate," Danny ordered, climbing so far up the ladders as he could before passing the female soldier up to Sam.

"Is she-"

Sam didn't have a chance to finish her sentence. Danny reached the top, lifting Kate up into his arms before dragging Sam away from the hatch, words caught in her throat as he pushed her ahead, shielding her from what was about to come. It only took a couple more seconds. They dived ahead as the sound reached their ears, sharp and quick, and the pressure from underneath threw them off their feet. Grass turf flew up from behind, waves of pressure and heat forcing an escape up through the hatch; a high rise of flame shooting out from the ground. All they could hear was a deep ringing in their ears, the intensity pushing their hearing to the extreme, their eyesight slightly fuzzy as they recovered from the shock. Matt was first on the scene, rushing over to help the two.

"Kate?" Sam was by the soldier as fast as lightning, hand shooting up to the pulse. There was nothing. She put her ear to her chest. No beat. "No, no, no, this isn't can't be right. Kate, please?" Danny sunk to the ground, watching her with solemn eyes, his mind felt hollow, and his body felt empty. He watched how the tears broke from her eyes, how she fell apart right there and then, the way Matt held his arm around her to steady her, how she cried into his shoulder. He watched as she coped with how her best friend was dead, how the denial kept repeating over and over, and how that tore the life right out from her own body.

"What happened?" It was Riley's voice. He didn't need to look. He couldn't. Jayme. Kate. It was a list of injuries and death that Danny didn't want to hold the burden of. If Jayme died too then he was done, done with this job, done with it all.

"Someone must have shot her down there, she was already dead when I found her," The ex-team leader informed; voice hollow. The world around him was numb, and the sadness shed was brought to extremes. He moved his gaze. Just a few feet away Connor sat, just watching, like he was. He watched as Becker held onto Jayme, as if his grip would stop the life from falling away. As if he could magically keep her alive, and keep her in his life. He loved her. Danny had known that for a while now. And she loved him. That's why it hurt so much more. He cares so much for her that it feels as though the pain will kill him and that he will bleed from the heart and fall. All Becker wanted to be able to do was tell her he loved her and have her whisper it back, like it's secret, an immense one. He wanted her alive. He needed her in his life. And as the ex-team leader let his gaze flit between the grief over Kate, and the devastation in Becker's eyes as he waited desperately for the help that was on its way, the help that they needed fast, he thought about his own sorrow. He was destroyed from the inside, so much so that it felt empty. Kate was gone. Jayme was going. Would he ever be able to look her in the eye and tell her how they finally managed to do what they came here to do, and how he was in awe of her courage and determination to not back down from this mission, even with all the obstacles. He didn't have an answer for that. All he hoped was that she was strong enough to hold on, not just for him, but for Nick and Becker, two people who loved her dearly. There was no way he could let her die. Not after everything they'd been through, not after all of this.

.

.

.

_**The end...**_

**A/N: Well, there will be an epilogue... I tried my best at the sad scenes, honest, I just need more practice to get them more heartfelt and emotional. Hope you guys enjoyed this story. The epilogue will be up soon-ish. Huge thanks to those who've read it :)**


	32. Epilogue

She let her fingers trace the photograph on the shelf. It was at the ARC. A team photograph, Matt, Emily, Connor, Abby, Jess, Becker, Sam, and Kate. It wasn't difficult to see the happiness in their lives from the smiles they wore. Nothing was going wrong. But that photo was taken over a year ago, and not everyone on there was the same person they were back then. Kate was gone. Forever. Her life was taken away long before it should have been. Sam left. Quit. She could guess that Sam found the ARC no longer a comfortable place to work, she had an ex-boyfriend as a boss and her best friend was dead, and there were constant reminders of that all over the ARC. Emily was on maternity leave. Twin girls. She and Matt were so excited. Jess was the same old Jess, still the heart of the team that helped keep them all together. Connor and Abby continued to be as happy as ever, the only difference between now and the photograph was that the small bump on Abby's stomach was a baby girl; an eight month old baby girl. So much had changed.

His breath tickled her ear as the soldier came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her body securely, in a way that felt as if he never wanted to let go. "Are you ok?" He murmured, holding her closer as she rested her head gently on his chest. His heart beat was steady; a lullaby, one that she could easily fall asleep to.

"Are you sure you want to go out tonight?" The brunette asked, avoiding his question as her eyes continued gazing at the photograph.

"Why wouldn't we?" She moved out from his arms as soon as the words left his mouth, and he knew the one thing her mind was on the moment she did so.

"Becker, it's been six months. Exactly six months ago to this day Kate died. How are you not reminded of that, you knew her better than I did, why aren't you upset?"

"Of course, I'm upset, she was my friend, and I'm not trying to dismiss any of that. But I can promise you there's a reason I picked tonight, it's important. Please, Jayme," His hands took hers and as she looked up at those brown eyes he used so well against her, she couldn't find a way to say no.

"If it means that much to you-"

"It does," The soldier stated, pressing a light kiss against her lips in satisfaction, "Trust me, you'll understand,"

"Fine, but this better be one hell of a date, soldier boy," She responded, moving past him on the way towards the apartment door. "Are you coming?"

He took his eyes off the photograph she had been staring at as the words reached his ears, "Yeah," He murmured in response, taking a second before catching her up at the door, placing a hand on the small of her back as they walked out of the building together.

The restaurant they entered was perfectly peaceful; it was by far Becker's favourite for many reasons. One of which was no children allowed. He didn't hate children, he just didn't want them around when he was on a date, it ruined the tranquillity, and he'd definitely had a few bad experiences in the past. A toddler on the loose and a bowl of spaghetti, see where it's going? He shook his head at the memory; this would be their night, and only their night. Nothing was going to go wrong. He had it all planned out. This was going to be perfect even if it killed him.

"Table for two, it's under Becker?" The soldier queried, following the waiter who showed them to their seats. It was a table by the window, overlooking the river outside. The moon would shine down on the water's surface, and the lights around would illuminate the night; it was beautiful, just as the woman sat opposite him was.

"So this was the important part of tonight, the table where we had our first official date?" Jayme asked, raising her eyebrows at the man as she took a sip of the white wine that was all set and ready for their date.

"Part of it," The soldier responded, smiling at her, "At least you remembered though, that's a good sign,"

"How could I forget? But last time I checked, it wasn't the most successful date," She added, biting her lip as she returned the smile.

"Ok, it wasn't my fault that a raptor decided to trash the place. I couldn't exactly convince it to pick another night, and believe me, I tried,"

She let out a soft chuckle, one that Becker wished he could play in his head over and over, "Well, it still ended pretty well at least, although we did have to resort to ordering a Chinese, but the things you said that night did have me in tears,"

"I had a concussion, I couldn't control or remember half the things I was saying," Becker shot back in defence, joining in on her laughter, it was too difficult to try and stay mad, especially while watching the smile on her face beaming.

"Shouldn't have let the raptor knock you out then,"

"I'm sorry, along with asking it to choose a night that suits us; I'll also ask it to not try and kill me,"

"Ok, let's get one thing straight, it did not try and kill you," Jayme began, motioning with her hands as she told the story, "It tried to kill Connor, you just happened to be in the way when it's tail came swinging around,"

"Probably wasn't one of my finest moments in the field," The soldier confessed, taking the menu's from the stand and handing one to the brunette. He had faith so far. Things were going well, now he had to just work on it staying that way.

Empty plates sat in front of them, one bottle of wine gone, and he had to admit, he'd done a good job on the date so far, it was exactly how he had hoped it would go. "How'd you like the food?"

"The pasta was amazing, I think I'm starting to get why you love this place so much," Jayme stated, smiling at her own words as she watched the soldier in front of her.

"That's good, I'm glad you-" His words were cut off by the sound of her phone ringing from her bag, caught in unison with his own.

"And an anomaly to finish off the night, I don't think you'll ever catch a break, Becker," The brunette added, ending the call from Matt and standing up from the table.

"The night's not over yet," Becker informed, sending a smile her way and a mischievous glint in his eye that she could spot from a mile off.

She laughed at his words, "Come on, Captain; we have work to do,"

They found the ARC's vehicles by the front of the building, and as they approached after leaving Becker's car, they found the team, all preparing for the anomaly at hand. Matt threw an EMD over to the head of security as he passed; giving him a smirk that Jayme could only assume was due to the lack of uniform, at least that's the only thing that came to mind.

"We'll go up and check the perimeter," Matt began, gesturing towards Becker, "Connor, Jayme, you two bring the locking device up when it's ready, the anomaly's on the rooftop,"

"And we'll check the floors to make sure no one's working late. There's nothing like stepping out your office to find a dinosaur looking right back at ya'," Abby stated, grabbing a smaller EMD from the truck and entering the building alongside Emily, Danny, Riley and Scott.

"Guess we'll see you guys up there," Connor called after them, turning back to the locking device in the back of the truck.

"Is everything ok, Con?" The brunette questioned after a few silent moments, the words coming out slowly. "You haven't looked at me once since we arrived,"

"What you talkin' 'bout?" He responded, accidently letting out an uneasy giggle; although he made sure to dismiss her comment with ease by averting his attention away from her and putting his head back down. Abby had told him to say as little as possible, she knew what he was like in these situations, and if he talked too much, he'd end up saying something he wasn't supposed to.

She raised her eyebrows at the man before shaking her head free of thoughts, "Never mind, then,"

"Come on, we better lock this anomaly,"

After a few minutes of silence, and Connor's failed attempt at whistling one of his favourite songs, Jayme finally spoke up again, "Any particular reason you're acting so strange?" She queried as they waited for the lift to drop them off at the roof entrance.

"Me? Strange?" He tried scoffing at the words, only to end up choking as a result, "Don't be ridiculous," He added, attempting to subtly recover from the experience.

"You know what, I don't even want to know," The brunette surrendered, "Act as strange as you like, I won't even question it," She stated, the 'ping' of the lift finishing off her words nicely.

"Er, yeah, you go ahead, I just need to... Check something... On my phone," Connor stated, awkwardly, and stopped after leaving the lift, giving a slight wave with his phone as he took it out of his pocket, "You just go on ahead, I'll be right there," Jayme only nodded in response, her expression taking an ever-lasting form of confusion as she glanced back at the man before walking out onto the roof. The scene ahead wasn't exactly what she expected. There was no anomaly in sight.

Before she had a chance to work out what was going on, her name was called from behind. "Jayme?" She turned back, her eyes fixating on the source of the voice.

"Becker? What's going on? Where's the anomaly? Where's your EMD?" It was a collection of questions, all branched out with their own tone of confusion. He couldn't help but smile as he walked up to her, her puzzlement was pretty cute. "Ok, am I just really stupid? Am I missing something? First Connor acts all weird, now you? What's going on?"

The soldier took a moment before answering her, it all worked out as he had planned, now he just had to do the next part, one that he wasn't sure to be scared or happy about. It was more of a mixture of the two to be precise. "You want to know why I picked tonight?" Becker queried, now standing directly in front of her, the two alone on the rooftop, nothing but the night sky above them.

"Yeah, actually I do. Why's it so important to you, after everything that happened on that day?"

It amazed him how he could go up against dinosaurs every week and yet this terrified him, at least it was in a good way. Just take a deep breath and speak, he mentally ordered himself, still being watched by a pair of confused eyes, "Look, I know that six months to this day Kate died, I am in no way trying to ignore that, trust me. It's what made tonight so hard to do because I didn't want you or anyone else to think that I'm dismissing that, or that I don't think it's important. She will always be missed, by me and by everyone; she was a great soldier and an amazing friend. I also know that six months ago, to this very day, you were shot; do you really think I could ever forget that? I thought I was going to lose you, Jayme, it _killed _me to see you that way, it broke every inch of me thinking that I would never have you in my life," Becker began, taking her hands in his, "But do you want to know why today is so important to me? Why that day, despite the awful things that happened, holds a bit of good in it?"

She simply nodded in response, taking the silence to push back the dark thoughts that plagued the memory of that day. She hadn't even realised the rain had begun until Becker's voice brought her back to life, "Because six months ago, on this very day, you told me you loved me for the first time, and that is a moment I couldn't forget, even if I wanted to. Jayme, everything was going so badly, and I took a chance and I told you how I felt, and for me? That wasn't something I say lightly, and to have you say it back was the best moment of my life. I get that it may sound selfish, and trust me it's hard for me to focus on that one moment when everything else went completely wrong, but I can, and that's why I chose today,"

"Becker, I do love you, but people died, I don't know how to see that day as any other way,"

"That's exactly the reason why I am. Jayme, you associate your past with bad things, because a lot of your past is filled with dark moments, and I completely understand that. But you have good memories in your past too, and I just want you to be able to look back and see the light that comes with the dark. I want you to learn to accept when something good happens and not have a bad memory replace it. Just because something terrible happens doesn't mean we have to feel guilty about remembering something good that happened alongside it,"

She gave him a shaky smile, a glossy sheet of water covering her eyes, and her hair and outfit drenched with the rain. She knew he was right. And she wished she could be as brave as him. But she wasn't. Bad things always followed her past, and she found it difficult to separate herself from them. "Ok, I get that, Becker. Just one question," She began, taking a moment to glance at her surroundings, "There's no anomaly is there?"

He chuckled, "No anomaly," The soldier admitted, "I had this whole thing planned out. I wanted this day for the many, _many_ reasons I just listed, I wanted that restaurant because that's where we had our first date, I figured there was no harm in throwing a little ARC action in because let's face it, it's part of our lives, and I wanted you, right here, because without you my life wouldn't be anywhere near the perfection that you bring along. And yes, I may have getting a little bit of help from Abby, and the rain wasn't meant to be part of the plan, but I'm thinking I did a pretty good job,"

This time it was her turn to laugh, and he let her music fill his ears, and he let her smile stay in his mind, and he let both of her hands fall to her side as he dropped to one knee, pulling out the dark velvet box from his jacket pocket. "Becker?"

"Just don't turn me down until I'm finished," He told her, laughing slightly and burying the nerves deep inside of him as he opened the box to reveal the glittering engagement ring; he took a deep breath before speaking again, mentally preparing himself for the worst, "Jayme, you came to me in the most unexpected of ways, you made me feel things I hadn't felt for a long time, I don't know how you did it but you became so incredibly unforgettable that it was hard for a second to go by without you crossing my mind, and I fell in love with you so hard that I just knew you were the one for me. I'm making a fool of myself tonight and allowing myself to succumb to the everlasting mocking of a certain Connor Temple because I want you in my life forever. Jayme Cutter, will you marry me?"

She brushed back the watery hair that covered her face, laughing amongst a certain few tears that fell down her cheeks, and let herself stare into those perfect brown eyes that looked up at her. She nodded, hand covering her mouth as she let out a tear drowned laugh, "Yes, I will," And with that all the nerves were washed out of his system by the rain and he jumped up to pull her into a long lasting kiss. She was swept off her feet; quite literally, as Becker lifted her from the ground, remaining in the embrace for many moments before he set her on her feet and placed the ring that once belonged to his grandmother onto her finger.

"_Damn you, Becker, I'm crying, you idiot," _

"Jess?" The brunette questioned, her voice covered by the laughter Becker loved as she reached a finger to the earpiece she forget she had in.

"_Was I not supposed to talk? Sorry, guys, it was an accident," _The field co-ordinator stated, her voice playing on obvious light hearted lies, _"Hey, guess what? I hear a congratulations is in order, Jayme," _

"Thanks, Jess,"

"Why couldn't I listen to the speech, Jess was allowed to?" Connor whined, his voice appearing from behind as he and Abby walked onto the rooftop. Becker took note as he watched the blonde give the earpiece back to her husband.

"I didn't trust you to not speak; I knew Jess would keep quiet," Abby stated, planting a light kiss on his cheek before hugging Jayme, and then Becker, "We should plan more often, it worked out perfectly," The blonde added, sending a smile towards the couple before the group were joined by the rest of the team, all sending their congratulations, all in full awareness of what Becker had planned for this night.

"I love you," Becker stated, wrapping his arms around the brunette once more as they stood in the midst of the happy chatter.

"I love you too," She whispered in his ear, as if it was a secret, their secret, and an immense one at that.

However, away from the rooftop, away from the pouring rain and the group of friends, all that was in sight were the burned out cables no longer holding a spark, the piles of ash that were once paper, the occasional burnt piece of clothing or flesh plaguing what was left of the underground bunker. The area the young woman was surrounded in showed the dismay and destruction that the explosion had caused to the building. Yet it all seemed irrelevant to the blonde standing in the middle of a room, a device in hand, the link gathering information from the earpieces that the ARC team used. Everything they said, she heard. And at everything they said the blonde grew to hate them more.

"What's happening?" The Spanish accent floated to her ears, and she wasn't left in wonder at how her older sister had fallen for him, but that wasn't important. She was gone. And there was no way she would let her death go without cost.

"Jayme and her boyfriend are planning on getting married," The blonde stated, turning around to face the man.

"And I guess you're planning on making sure that doesn't happen?" Antonio questioned, walking up to the girl. She held many similarities to her older sister, Amanda; it was time to see if she had the same audacity to go through with her plans.

"I don't care if they end up married or not, I'm taking my time. They'll pay for what they did to her; they'll suffer beyond their greatest imagination," Her voice was harsh, but it betrayed her. He could hear the pain, the grief, as well as the hatred and the disgust. She was on the path of revenge. And she seemed determined. Maybe there were hopes for her yet.

"I know something that would help with your plans," Antonio began, looking her straight in the eyes as he spoke, "There's someone who I believe could prove useful, but I'll have to mess with time to get to her. It won't be easy, and it definitely won't be risk free,"

"Do what you have to do," Her voice came off hollow, she suffered after her sister's death, that was evident, and now he was sure she was prepared to do whatever it takes to make those at fault pay.

"It may not work out as I hope, if getting this person affects time, I can't undo the damage," Antonio stated, watching for any glimpse of worry in her features, there was none. "But I can promise you that this person should be of great use for your revenge, Jade,"

"I trust you,"

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**A/N: And now it's over. It feels so good to finish this story, and I hope I can get the sequel to work. But until then, let's take a moment to reflect on the epilogue. There was a happy proposal, which I hope made people smile. But then there's Antonio, still alive and kicking. And now Jade's involved, she only held a small appearance in this fanfiction, she was in chapter seven, hiding out in the future while Amanda did her little missions and plans. Well, I think it's safe to say she isn't happy about her sister's death. And who's the mystery person that Antonio is talking about? **

**Bye for now :)**


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